


Kuroko no Hogwarts

by LazyAuthoress



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, F/M, Family Issues, Just heavy Petting and kissing, M/M, Mentions of Sex, Multi, No Slash, Other Fandoms Not Mentioned in Tags, Polygamy, Slow Build, Slow Romance, Slow To Update, Teenage Drama, Too much wandlore, Wandlore, life at hogwarts, mentions of other fandoms
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-07
Updated: 2015-07-22
Packaged: 2018-03-29 10:59:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 11
Words: 58,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3893869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LazyAuthoress/pseuds/LazyAuthoress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. What if the KnB cast had been born in the Harry Potter world? This is how I imagine it. Cute GoM shota and lots of magic. First it will be friendship but slowly turn into BL/Yaoi action, so beware.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I’m LazyAuthoress, Hufflepuff, wand: Laurel wood with unicorn hair core, solid and eleven inches (source Pottermore). Wandlore: “It is said that a laurel wand cannot perform a dishonorable act, although in the quest for glory, laurel wands have been known to perform powerful and sometimes lethal magic.” (Source Pottermore).  
> I like to study Wandlore so it will take a big impact in the story, specially Takao, which is my favorite character and who I have chosen to follow my path. Also, today is his birthday! So I posted to celebrate.  
> I’ve recently fallen in love with KnB and I’ve always been a hardcore Harry Potter fan; and on the other day I read The Black Flamingo101’s fic with Junjou Romantica in Hogwarts. Total crackfic! But I felt like doing a Harry Potter crossover myself.  
> Main pairings are Midorima and Takao (because they're my favorites in the series) and some Aomine, Kagami and Kuroko (favorite trio).  
> If their actions, thoughts and ideas seem out, please remember that they are children, in an age before their entrance in Teiko, so their personalities are not so twisted.  
> I don’t have anything against Slytherin, mind you. My own sister is a Slytherin and I like her a lot… most of the time. She was sad at first but we told her: “If you are there, Slytherin is already a better place.” It’s our actions that tell us who we are.

Through time there have always been, hidden from Muggle eyes, magical communities where wizards and witches lived. Not to say that they didn’t live in other places, but they preferred this for commodity issues. That and they really didn’t get Muggles.

This communities/neighborhoods/blocks or whatever, usually are quite the lovely places! Where friendly old ladies charm their tulips and honking daffodils to grow more colorful than those of her friends’, children laugh and play Quidditch in the backyards, clumsy young wizards explode potions in yard sheds and the occasional angry housewife that hexes a broom or rolling pin after her cheating husband.

Of course there are bad things too. The sporadic jinx on someone’s mail box; the customary complains about his or hers owl’s messes on the fences and children fighting after coming back from elementary school - also conveniently part of the community -  that originate problems: craters, smoking explosions, someone throwing up slugs for a week… Yes. Because children before the age of ten, when they reach the magic learning age, are quite susceptible to magical problems. There are usually many problems of control when anger is involved. And without it, there’s no telling what will happen. In fact… anything from baldness to 3rd degree burns and worse can happen.

And this is where our story begins. Not really but I think you’ll understand my point.

In one of these neighborhoods, there was once a huge boom. Figuratively and not.

It was a huge boom firstly because of the great amount of children that were born that year in that particular community. Some still live there and others don’t. But the ones that matter do live there.

And that was the second reason for it to be a boom. A literal one. The biggest explosion ever in the history of magical incidents involving children out of school age.

Explosions of some meters are usual in powerful children when they’re five or six. Aomine Daiki was eighteen months old when he exploded his home and part of the neighbor house making it a record. Not only that but he demonstrated great control over his magical abilities for such a young child. His magical aura grew so strong animals were afraid to get near him. And by the age of five he had singlehandedly defeated a vampire that had wandered near. This soon gained him the name of a prodigy.

And he wasn’t the only one who showed aptitude for greatness from an early age, as well as abnormally strong control over one’s abilities. There was also his neighbor Momoi Satsuki - his other neighbor mind you - that turned out to be a powerful Seer and whose predictions were even more accurate than those of her mother’s; Kise Ryouta, that turned his house upside down, making it balance on its roof and liked to transfigure the neighbor’s dogs into ugly ceramic garden figures, spoons and flower pots; Murasakibara Atsushi that was capable of duplicating every single type of food he wanted and had a knack for blowing people like balloons and letting them float when upset; Midorima Shintarō who was capable of conjuring simple spells even without a wand, specially of healing type, and was obsessed with the local horoscope magazine, Oha Asa; the boy everyone seemed to forget about,  Kuroko Tetsuya, capable of potent invisibility spells, usually on himself, and memory spells; and Akashi Seijūrō, who bloomed the last, when in first grade he managed to take full control of his teacher’s body and mind for several weeks before anyone noticed.

And this was the third reason for it to be a boom. The great number of geniuses born in that one generation. They soon became the talk of the magical world and the Generation of Miracles, as they were known, received many requests from hysterical mommies and daddies from the Ministry that wanted their precious little thing to have his acknowledgment as a genius; all of them unfunded and denied. Schools battled for the right of having them as pupils when of age and the more fearful ones started ranting about the rise of a new order and a possible new dark lord from among them.

But still, the seven remained, albeit living in fame, on that little community until the beginning of our story. 

xxx

When Akashi called, they answered. It was an unspoken rule. Akashi was like their leader and he was scary. He scared even the adults. No one defied him. Young Midorima sighed as he walked down the street, on an early summer morning, to meet his equals. He wasn’t feeling so great today as Oha Aha had only placed Cancers on 10th in the ranking. He hoped that the small bell that was his lucky item for the day would keep him away from any major tragedies.

“Hello Midorima-kun! Seijūrō-kun is on the living room with the others.” Akashi’s mother greeted him. She was a small woman that didn’t seem to have many ideas of her own. Shintarō wondered if it was the daily influence of her child. But then again, his father seemed fine, from the few times he had seen him. A strictly business related man. So different from his ever present and friendly parents.

 He watched her leave to the kitchen and sighed again. Great! He was late. Hopefully Akashi would be in a good mood.

“Shintarō. It’s unusual for you to be late.” A boy with red hair regarded him calmly from his giant armchair as he walked into the living room. Bad sign.

“I’m sorry. My luck is low today. Am I the last one? Where is Kuroko, nanodayo?” Midorima apologized as he made way for one of the couches.

“Tetsuya’s here.” Akashi pointed to the side of his seat and true to word, a small blue haired boy, seating on the floor, appeared as if by magic – which was likely.

“Oh.” He softly nodded in acknowledgment as he stroked his bell. Hopefully Akashi wouldn’t berate him too much.

“Sheesh! Midorima-kun! I feel so offended! Why is it that you have more faith in that make believe fortune teller than in me!” The only girl in the group, seating across from him on another couch, pouted in her pretty pink dress that matched her hair.

“It’s a different type of prediction. Besides… you never give me any lucky items.” He pouted as well. This was a very old discussion.

“Because there is no such thing!” Momoi protested frustrated.

Keeping himself from sighing again – it would be rude – his eyes left the pouting girl to pause at the dark skinned boy seating beside her. Aomine was rudely snoring as he slept, his head awkwardly bent behind.

Eyes wandering again, this time stopping on the last two boys who were supposed to be part of his “friends”, like his mother oh-so-happily liked to call them, Midorima wondered why he called them his equals. They had nothing in common after all. Sure they were famous… but he was expected to hang with these people who liked none of the things he did! He really preferred being alone.

The last two were seating on the floor. Kise, with his blindingly blonde hair was happily snacking from a bag of pumpkin pastries that Murasakibara was duplicating and eating. The purple haired boy was must have had some giant blood in his family. As far as he knew even his parents were tall and large. Already Atsushi was showing signs of enormous growth. Kise was just annoying.

Murasakibara Atsushi was the second person Midorima handled the worse in the group. The first was Kuroko. Cancers and Aquarius just didn’t hang along. Oha Asa was extraordinary.  

The room turned silent as Akashi cleared his throat. Even Aomine woke up and Kise stopped chewing. Murasakibara continued eating though. Eating was his normal state after all. Everyone turned to look at the red haired boy.

“Now that you’re all paying attention…” He eyed everyone with a friendly smile that made Midorima completely uncomfortable for some reason. “As you know, this summer we’ll be receiving our application letters for magic schools. I’ve decided we should attend Hogwarts because it has the most prestige.” He let the information sink before continuing. “My father has already informed me about the houses and I believe the best choice for us would be Slytherin. Great sorcerers have left the House of Slytherin, that rewards ambition, and we are expected only to perform the best. So make sure you get that thought on your head.” Akashi eyed the entire room that nodded affirmatively. Hell, even if they didn’t agree they would still nod. “Great! Sorry for taking your time. Please return home safely. I need to get ready. My father will take me to see his meeting in the Ministry and I wish to be presentable. And please, do tell if you receive your letter. We shall commemorate.” He finished with the overfriendly smile that Shintarō didn’t like.

As they walked out he couldn’t help overhear Kise’s comment of indifference about the House he would be selected to and Momoi’s declaration of following her Dai-chan to which house he ended up on.

Shintarō, himself couldn’t stop thinking about it. Had he been randomly selected o Slytherin, he probably wouldn’t have minded. But the imposition was irking him. Still… One doesn’t go against Akashi.

“It seems like you want to protest Midorima-kun.”

Like most of the times Kuroko liked to randomly appear, Midorima jumped a bit to the side not having been prepared to hear another voice.

“Kuroko.” He acknowledged.

“Midorima-kun… I don’t wish to go to Slytherin.” The small said very seriously and Shintarō had to stare a bit. It was the first time he had heard the other boy speak against the redhead. “Please do not tell Akashi-san yet. I’ll let the ceremony speak for itself.”

They walked in silence for a bit but this time Midorima tried not lose sight of his companion. He had never expected this. Kuroko must have been out of his mind.

Soon they reach an intersection but before they separated the smaller boy turned to him once more. “You should start thinking about what you want to do, Midorima-kun.”

x

Tetsuya knew that he had just left Midorima in a state of shock but he was confident on his decision.

Despite the permanent neutral expression in his face, Kuroko Tetsuya was capable of strong emotions. He was passionate about what he cared. And right now he was caring about his friends. He just couldn’t stand as they escaped normality with each new day.

It was ridiculous really… the media and the people… How could they congratulate him on such a curse? For one, those poor kids would be forever labeled as different. But not only that… He, for example, was condemned to forever be ignored or forgotten. How could they pair him with them when he was incapable of controlling his power? But Akashi was the worse. Akashi was forever fated to be feared. How happy must he have been when he was presented with a bunch of kids that did not fear him for his powers! Much, at least. Even now it was pitiful as he tried to keep them close to him on all circumstances. And poor Akashi wasn’t even aware of it.

He needed to save them. He need to make Akashi understand that trying to control people wouldn’t make him any real friends. The others… they didn’t care about it yet but… they would feel it, he was sure. Being completely under Akashi’s control. Puppets that played to their master’s contempt.

But not Midorima. He still had some ideas of his own. Even if he didn’t like him so much, Kuroko had some hope. Akashi liked Midorima a lot. It would be a shock if… And Midorima needed some real friends too. Yes. He was confident. Slowly, but certain, it would work.

And Aomine… He really wasn’t sure what to do. Aomine was already feeling the alienation and lately he was turning very arrogant. Kuroko didn’t like the way it was headed. At first he thought that Aomine would be like Akashi, since he was the most dangerous after the redhead, and he liked him a lot, but he had and would ever have Momoi. Maybe he should leave him to her. She would be able to take care of him.

As he walked inside his house, his father passed him not even acknowledging his presence as always.

“I’m home.” He stated as clear as possible.

His father was slightly startled but as soon as he was capable of seeing him he greeted him warmly with a smile and a hug. “Welcome back, little man!”

God knows how horrible his parents must feel for not noticing their own son, and repetitively losing him when he is seating besides them. Tetsuya only owned a small album of pictures, his parents never knowing where he was when younger. Once they even wondered if they were crazy and didn’t have a child after all. But they loved him and tried their best to make it up for him.

“Hey! There’s something for you on the kitchen table!” His father smiled even further and he could just guess what it was. As he approached the table, his name shined proudly on the neat letter with Hogwarts’ crest on.


	2. Hogwarts Express

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU. What if the KnB cast had been born in the Harry Potter world? This is how I imagine it. Cute GoM shota and lots of magic. First it will be friendship but slowly turn into BL/Yaoi action, so beware.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I understand that in the canon, Hogwarts only serves British students so I eliminated my original idea of making Kagami and Himuro speak English, as they came from America, and have the others speak some unknown official language on some unknown country. Instead everyone lives in Britain, somewhere (not telling you where). It’s a Japanese style community? Main point: they were all born in Britain.  
> Also, they do not live in Japan because the school serving that country is called Mahoutokoro (literally Magical Place). The reason Kagami and Himuro are going to Hogwarts instead of Salem Witches Institute, located in New England, America is because they were born in Britain. “In Britain, the ability to use magic is automatic grounds for admittance to Wizarding School. There is a magical quill that writes down the name of those that are born with magical capabilities. Eleven years after a child’s name is entered into the book, a letter is sent to the child’s home to explain that they have been accepted into Hogwarts. The homes of Muggle-born wizards receive an envoy to explain the situation.” (Source: Harry Potter wiki)   
> Wandlore’s in the end of chapter. Read it! I worked hard choosing their wands!  
> The official details say that Takao’s eyes are blue, despite the PSP game and colored pages. So I’m going with that.

He was so nervous! What if the other kids didn’t like him!? What if he was just seen as a common delinquent, as he had previously, and no one would listen!? What if they laughed at his second-hand clothes?! Why couldn’t he have chosen a school back in America!? And where the hell was Tatsuya-ni-chan?!

“Taiga?”

“… what?”

“Is there something wrong with that pillar that you seem so intend in destroying by glaring at it?” The voluptuous blonde woman asked the red haired boy muttering to himself.

  “… just nervous.” He mumbled dejected and being promptly smacked in the head with a fist.

“Stop acting so meekly! You’ll end up in Hufflepuff at this rate!”

Rubbing his new bump the boy turned to the woman. “That’s mean Alex-ne-san. There’s nothing wrong with Hufflepuff.”

“Of course not! That’s not what I mean…” Alexandra Garcia sighed as they moved through the crowded station. “What stupid thoughts are going through that empty head of yours?”

Lots of thoughts were. Taiga sighed as well. Where to start? Things didn’t seem to be going very well for him in the last times. First his father’s sudden inspiration that led them in to America, where he knew no one and everyone presumed he was a delinquent due to his gruff appearance. Then his mother’s disease and death, and his father crashing down because of it. Then the debts and all the problems that came with it. And now here he was, returning years later, to a country where he now knew no one, again, and all his possessions were second-hand and old.

His father wasn’t a bad man but he was skeptical and not approving of magic, preferring to be on a need to know basis with everything related. His mother had given up everything for him, even her wand. She had left him a small fund for his school expenses but he ended up enchanting it for Muggle currency to try and keep some roof over their heads as his father was incapable of maintaining a job ever since he had lost his wife.

So when, the prior month he had received a letter from Hogwarts School, he had first wondered if he should ask for transference to Salem Witches Institute so he could minimize his expenses. But his desire to see Tatsuya-ni and Alex telling he was stupid if he refused such a chance, led him to make his mind and return to his home country. Ah, Alex was one of their neighbors and she was also a witch that had left for America when she was young. After his mother was gone she had helped them tremendously and now even more as she offered to pay for his school needs as a loan. And Tatsuya-ni, Himuro Tatsuya, was yet another wizard he had met in America and who he considered his brother. He had, the year before, received his own letter to Hogwarts and returned home with his family. They had frequently written to each other and Himuro had spoken enthusiastically about Taiga’s arrival the next year so he could show him the ropes. Those letters had become more and more infrequent but he had thought that ni-san was busy with school work. He decided to go with that one.

“Lots of things. Like… what happened with ni-san? Why did he only made up excuses? I’m stupid but I can tell when he’s lying.” He pouted.

The blonde frowned looking quite displeased with the topic. Sure enough, as soon as they had set foot in England, Kagami had tried to contact his brother because he hopped he would give him some roof and help him buy his school material. Thankfully Alex had gone with him to make sure he would be fine. Every single time Tatsuya had tried to postpone any plans, and the little money they had, because Alex sometimes had even less pocket money than they did, was reduced to a handful of Galleons because they were both forced to stay abroad with living expenses. In the end, he didn’t even had the money for his own wand.

“I think I know what is wrong.” Alex carefully guided him through the nine and ten platforms arriving in front of the red engine. The red-haired boy looked up expectantly. “I talked to Tatsuya a couple of times too… Remember which house he entered?”

“Slytherin… but we shouldn’t…”

“Believe prejudice… Yes. But I think… that there must have been some sort of bullying in there. He didn’t feel like the same last time we talked. It felt like he was trying to be someone he was not.”

He was surprised. Never had he felt such a thing from their letters. “But I though Slytherin took care of their own!” He protested as he finished loading his trunk into the back of the train, besides a raven haired boy that was beaming like the sun.

“Even inside Houses there are people that do not fit in completely. Maybe he was unlucky and got involved with people he shouldn’t. But what I’m trying to say is… don’t be too disappointed if you too end up meeting. He may be different but you’ll make new friends and live your life and maybe Tatsuya will realize what he’s losing by ignoring you!” She smiled and winked at him as they walked back to the passenger carriages.

It sucked what happened to Tatsuya. But he would change that.

Feeling much better with a new objective he smiled back. “And if he doesn’t, I’ll kick his butt and set him straight!”

“That’s the spirit!” Alex cheered.

Kagami was about to hop into the carriage when he suddenly turned again. “Are you sure it’s okay for me to have this?” He waved Alex’s wand.

She smiled sadly. “It’s not like I’ll be using it…”

“Maybe someday someone will discover a cure! Then you’re going to want your wand!” He frowned at her attitude. Honestly, after all that talk about being meek.

“We’ll see about that… Oh! Before I forget! Here…” She handed him a few Sickles. “For the tea trolley!”

“What! Ne-san! This is too much! How will you return home!? I need you to keep an eye on my father!”

“Don’t insult my intelligence! I had those on the side especially for this occasion! You eat too much Tiger! But rest assured that you’ll never starve at Hogwarts! Now go and buy snacks like your life depends on it!” She cheered and gave him a big smooch before waving at him. “Bye, bye Tiger! Write me when you get selected! If you’re a Gryffindor I promise to buy you a Quidditch broomstick!”

“Alex! Gross!” He scrubbed his mouth with the back of his sleeve. “And I don’t need one!” He looked around making sure no one had seen her gross act and quickly jumped on the train and poked his head outside the window to wave her goodbye.

Soon the train started moving and her waving figure grew smaller. As he was heading back inside her voice resounded loudly. “TAIGA! IF YOU NEED… WRITE ME! I’LL COME AND GET YOU! DON’T FORGET!” But before he could reply, the train took a turn and she disappeared.

x

Shintarō was feeling slightly miserable today as he gazed the disappearing London behind them. And Cancers had such a good ranking. What a waste.

Since that day Akashi had decided he wanted them to be in Slytherin, and Kuroko had told him in secret that he wished to disrespect that… order?... he had been unable to focus on anything else. Wandering thoughts of ‘what if’s plagued him at night. He supposed he respected, and envied, Kuroko’s guts.

On the other hand, his discomfort was also caused by his current situation. The small compartment Akashi had insisted they shared was definitely too small for this many people. And because Kise had decided it would be a great idea, they had dressed their cloaks already and he was cooking under it. AND because it was way too noisy in there for him to be able to read his monthly Oha Asa edition book. His dancing cactus that was his lucky item didn’t seem to be working very well. He watched silently as his companions increased the noise level.  

Satsuki was sitting facing him as she stroked her pink Pygmy Puff, a shrunken Puffskein from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, which she had bought as a pet, instead of the kneazle she had liked so much at the Magical Menagerie; something for which he was grateful considering he couldn’t handle cats or anything that looked like one. The thing wasn’t really that noisy but once in a while it would let out a cute sound that made Satsuki squeak with joy.

Besides her, Aomine and Kise were loudly arguing about Quidditch, with some threats in the mixture, and nothing else could be said about it. Across from them, on Midorima’s bench, Atsushi was stuffing himself with great amounts of noisy candy and sweets. It was enough to make him nauseous. Akashi was calmly sitting in between them and looked somewhat contemplative while petting his yellowish snake. Of course he would go all out with a Slytherin look. The creature was intently looking at the pink ball of fluff, certainly waiting for a chance to eat it.

And Kuroko. He had forgotten about Kuroko. “I’m going out or a bit.” Kuroko announced making his presence known.

Seijūrō regarded him thoughtfully. “And where are you going?”

“Up front. I’m going to try and see the engine.” The blue haired boy answered stoically but behind him numerous stars of excitement could be seen.

“Fine then. But return afterwards.”

The boy nodded and left. For some reason Shintarō had the feeling that he wouldn’t return.

When one of Murasakibara’s cakes hit him in the face, he decided he had had enough. If Kuroko could leave so could he! “Akashi, I’m going to look for a quiet carriage so I can read. I’ll return before we arrive-nanodayo.” Yet he did not stood up. He should have stood. That would have made him look more decided.

For a moment he thought he saw conflict in the red-head’s eye, but lasted only a second. “Very well. Don’t forget to return.”

Not really believing he had gotten away with that, the green haired boy silently thanked him and quickly left.

x

Kuroko was disappointed and happy at the same time. He was happy because the cockpit was the coolest thing he had ever seen! But he was sad, because the pilot had refused to let him in and he had used his powers of invisibility to sneak in. He was disappointed with himself for abusing his capabilities.

He was now pondering what to do to kill time. He certainly did not wish to return to Akashi and he wasn’t planning to. He was walking down the corridor when he sighted a boy walking in his direction, his arms filled to the brim with a least a dozen exemplars of every snack in the tea trolley. Curious, he decided to follow him when he passed, oblivious to his presence. The red-head entered an empty compartment and dutifully laid his catch on the bench besides him. Kuroko just took a seat and watched him eat candy bars and chocolate frogs at a speed he had only associated with Atsushi before.

Once or twice a boy or a girl would enter the room, but after looking at the boy they would inevitably turn tail and leave without a word. This happened a few times before the oblivious boy laid his half eaten pumpkin pastry aside and sighed dejectedly.

“Have you done something to make them scared of you?” He decided to ask at last. He was expecting the guy to be surprised by his sudden appearance, but he hadn’t expected for him to choke on whatever it was he still had in his mouth and start coughing, clearly suffocating. Quickly pulling his wand he used one of the spells Midorima had taught him. “Anapneo!” And the other’s airway was cleared.

Coughing in relief the other finally faced him as he was finally taking notice of him. “What the hell! Where did you come from?! Who are you?”

“I’m Kuroko Tetsuya. Nice to meet you.” The invisible boy greeted and bowed.

As if a button was pushed, the other’s anger disappeared and he quickly bowed back. “Likewise. I’m Kagami Taiga.” Realizing what he was doing Taiga quickly straightened himself up and glared at him. Or maybe he was studying him. His face was hard to read. “Do you… want a tart?” The red haired boy offered, his face still mad looking but with a new looking blush upon his cheeks. Yep, he just had weird facial expressions.

“Thank you.” He accepted politely. As he nibbled delicately on his treacle tart Kagami returned his attention to the other pastries. “So… what did you do to scare the other children?”

That was clearly a frown. “Nothing. People just don’t like me. They say I’m scary looking.”

Maybe if he smiled a bit more he would look better. “Your eyebrows are funny looking, though.”

The boy looked at him as if he had suddenly grown a second head then a whole new level of fierce look came. “You bastard! You lookin’ for a fight?!”

This guy was fun.

x

Shintarō had been happily reading his book on a blissfully empty compartment, when his peace was interrupted. The nuisance, in the shape of a raven haired boy, quite literally jumped him.

“Hey, there! Are you all alone? What are you reading? What’s with that cactus? Wow! It’s dancing! What’s your name? I’m Takao Kazunari, happy to meet you! Do you have any friends here? Are you excited to go to Hogwarts?! I’m excited!” Then he turned very serious and quickly leveled their faces. “Be my friend. I want to be friends with you.”

He must have looked like he had just seen a ghost. “… what?”

The other straightened himself up and breathed in, hopefully trying to lower his crazy caffeine speed. “I’m Takao Kazunari! I want to be friends with you! What’s your name?” He smiled brightly, very differently from Akashi, and Midorima noticed he was missing a tooth. Not that weird since he himself also had some that were moving.

“Why do you want to be friends with someone you know nothing about?” This guy was probably one of those that wanted to be close to celebrities. How tasteless. “I’m Midorima Shintarō.” And now he was going to pretend he hadn’t recognized him, get all friendly and try to have him introducing him to someone famous.

“Shintarō… Shin-chan then! What are you reading, Shin-chan?” Takao beamed and scooped close to peer over the edge of the book.

How could anyone be so rude!? “What’s with that friendly nickname?! I don’t remember telling you we were friends! How rude can you get?! And don’t you know who I am?! Incidentally, this is the monthly version of Oha Asa.”

Genuine surprise filled those cerulean eyes before a spark of understanding flicked. They were so unlike Akashi’s, so honest and filled with warmth, not really the color of the sky but the silvery blue from the arctic oceans; already he was drowning. “Are you famous? I didn’t know if you were… I saw all of those reporters at the station but wasn’t really sure!” He laughed as if someone had just explained him a joke. Sheepishly he scratched his head. “Sorry about my lack of knowledge. I’m muggleborn, you see… Not really up to date with wizard news… Also, what the hell is Oha Asa?” He plopped down on the bench besides Midorima and hugged his arm giving him something akin to puppy eyes but with a small mischievous smile. “Shin-chan must think that I’m a bad person. I really want to be Shin-chan’s friend! I think you’re very interesting! Shin-chan even has a dancing cactus!”

There was just no ignoring the blue eyes was there… And he was just way to touchy-feeling! “Humph! You’re very rude! You seem understanding of it enough though.” He opened the page of the zodiac compatibilities. “Tell me your sign. If we’re incompatible then there’s no point on trying to be friends.”

“Oh! It’s a horoscope! Then, I’m a Scorpio! Are we compatible, Shin-chan? And also, my uncle’s also a muggleborn wizard so my family’s been aware for a while.” Takao smiled and waited, albeit still strangling his arm.

Well damn it!

Shintarō made a show of looking for the ratings but he really didn’t need to. He had always wanted to meet a Scorpio. Oha Asa’s compatibility ratings were always high between Cancers and Scorpio. Hell, he even had seen it go 101%, even though he was sure it must have been a typo. Ah, once more: _Today’s couple Scorpio/Cancer’s rating is 95%. Lucky! Today you may find understanding on each other as well as that missing link!_   Well damn it, damn it! Oha Asa turned on him.

“So...? Are we a match?”

“… I suppose it won’t harm if we try.” He really didn’t want to admit he was excited about it. Takao was really not the type of person he liked to hang with, but that list of people was really small anyways. It was hard to believe this person could be in synchrony with him. Discreetly he looked up Scorpio’s luck ratings for the day. Damn! First place!

“Ah, Shin-chan’s a tsundere! How cute!” The raven boy giggled. “Let’s get to meet each other! So, Shin-chan… Which House do you want to go to?”

“I’m going to Slytherin.” He really did not want to talk about that.

The other looked at him funny, though. “Shin-chan… that’s not what I asked. I want to know where you want to go.”

“Like I said…”

“But Shin-chan doesn’t look like he wants to be Slytherin.”

Oh. This was starting to feel like a déjà vu. “… I-i… I…”

“Can I see your wand?” Takao cut his shuttering.

Man, why couldn’t he just say what he wanted! “Why?”

“I’m going to be a wandmaker when I grow up! I want to see yours! It’s Ollivander’s! I can tell!” He outstretched his hands looking quite excited; and he had thought he couldn’t possibly get any more. How mistaken he had been.

Nevertheless, he did hand it over. Takao took it with a professional flip, - _Wow!_ \- and carefully observed it, looking the most serious but also the happiest he had seen him. He rotated the reddish wood a couple of times, flicked the wand in the air and carefully tried to bend it. In the end, with another flourish he presented it back to its owner. He was beaming like he had just discovered Midorima’s deepest secrets.

“Redwood, ten and half inches, slightly springy and unicorn hair core. Lucky Shin-chan! Redwood it’s said to bring good fortune!”

He took it reverently. He knew that wandlore was a difficult art and really shouldn’t be taking him seriously but he felt giddy about it. Good luck was on his side! Even without knowing it was by his side he was now very happy to think that luck was still following him! It really was what he wanted!

“So Shin-chan… Once more. Which House do you want to enter?”

“Ravenclaw.” Ah. That came out easily after all! Takao seemed to be bouncing in his seat waiting for something. He supposed it was delicate to ask him back, right? “What about Takao? You should also show me your wand, and tell me what House you want to get in to.” Ah. That came out rudely, didn’t it?

The other chuckled at his attempts on socializing. “No, Shin-chan! Call me Kazunari! We’re friends, remember?”

“Ka-Takao...”

He thought it was rude that Takao started laughing. He really wasn’t used to this!

“Shin-chan’s such a tsundere! So cute!”

“Shut up! Go die, nanodayo!”

“Gosh! That’s even cuter!” He squealed in a way that reminded him of Kise, but less annoying. When he finally calmed down he took his own wand in hand, which Midorima noted, was longer than his. “Then… I’m Takao Kazunari, and I’m muggleborn but I’ve always known about the wizarding world! I’ll be a wandmaker when I grow up! I don’t care which House I’m in! I just want to know where I’ll fit! And don’t worry Shin-chan, even if you’re a Slytherin and me a Gryffindor, or vice-versa, I’ll still like you no matter what! Let’s be friends forever! Also, my wand is Dogwood, twelve and half inches, supple and has a phoenix feather core. It’s a wand for tricksters and jokesters!” He was slightly out of breath when he finished his tirade.

Shintarō stoically clapped when he did. It was the same principle of rewarding an animal when they did well. Being around this guy was going to be as calming as a train wreck, he was sure.

“Ah! Shin-chan don’t make fun of me!” Takao pouted but laughed at his tsundere antics in the end.

Meanwhile, the train slowly got closer and closer to his destination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man!!!! That was long! Longest in the whole fic I bet!  
> Okay………… ‘Cause I want to make you obsessed wandlore fanatics like me…… here are some facts (the whole thing will be in my profile page).  
>  Long wands tend to suit those with big personalities, of a more spacious and dramatic style of magic.   
> Neater wands favor elegant and refined spell-casting.   
> Particularly short wands will choose wizards whose character lacks something.  
> Please do notice that Takao’s wand is longer than Midorima’s. Also, the longest recorded wand was Hagrid’s with 16 inches. But he was a giant.  
> And here are the complete wandlore for those two wands (please note that the personality traits are referent to the wood; cores are yet another study):  
> Takao Kazunari – Dogwood, twelve and half inches, supple and phoenix feather core. Quirky and mischievous; playful nature that scope for excitement and fun. Capable of outstanding spells under difficult conditions. Interesting foible of many dogwood wands is that they refuse to perform non-verbal spells and they are often rather noisy. Dogwood is one of Garrick Ollivander's personal favorites, as he always found that matching a dogwood wand with its ideal owner was always entertaining (due to the wood's playful nature). (A wand for explosions and bangs, I figured was suited for my little Kazunari)  
> Midorima Shintarō – Redwood, ten and half inches, slightly springy and unicorn hair core. Reputation for bringing good fortune to its owner. "The combination of such a witch or wizard with a redwood wand is always intriguing, and I generally expect to hear of exciting exploits when I send this special pairing out from my workshop."Ollivander. (A wood that brings good luck! I just had to give it to Midorima! There was a wand for those who are obsessed but as soon as I discovered this I just couldn’t help it!)  
> Next chapter’s A.N. will have some insight on cores.


	3. The Sorting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU. What if the KnB cast had been born in the Harry Potter world? This is how I imagine it. Cute GoM shota and lots of magic. First it will be friendship but slowly turn into BL/Yaoi action, so beware.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the next chapter of KnH. Enjoy.  
> If you noticed the chapter’s title then you know what’s coming!  
> I thought about how to divide them on the Houses and used the official criteria from Pottermore.  
> Gryffindor values bravery, daring, nerve, and chivalry. Its emblematic animal is the lion and its colors are scarlet and gold.  
> Hufflepuff values hard work, patience, loyalty, and fair play rather than a particular aptitude in its members. Its emblematic animal is the badger, yellow and black are its colors.  
> Ravenclaw values intelligence, knowledge, and wit. Its emblematic animal is the eagle, and its colors are blue and bronze.  
> Slytherin house values ambition, cunning and resourcefulness. Its emblematic animal is the serpent, and its colors are emerald green and silver.  
> “It seems that the Sorting Hat tends to place students based on qualities they value rather than qualities they exhibit. (…) The Sorting Hat can detect nascent qualities in a student and place them in the House that will challenge them and put their character to the test. (…) The Hat also appears to take the student's wishes into account, considering how one's personal choices are very much of a reflection of the qualities that they values in themselves. Just because someone is placed in a certain House does not mean that they cannot display characteristics of other Houses. (…)” (source Pottermore).  
> So hopefully you’ll understand why I put everyone where I did. 
> 
> Do have in attention that because they have yet to reach puberty, all the characters are about the same height. Cute GoM shota!   
> Also, I introduced two guests from other fandoms on the student list. See if you can find them!
> 
> Thank you all for clicking favorite in this fic! It makes me happy when people like what I write. Thank you The Almighty Pyro and It's Lucy's Wonderland Madness for your reviews and sorry for making you wait.  
> To clarify something: Regarding the timeline of the story, it’s passed after the original Harry Potter story, maybe a few years before or after Harry’s children go to school. So there are characters from the past that are still in the school, but most are gone and I’ll be replacing them.

Hogwarts Express signalled its stop.

Hogwarts School of Sorcery could be seen in the distance.

Takao exited the train, happily pulling his Shin-chan with him.

If there was something Takao was, it was possessive. Not that he was particularly proud of it but it was a known fact. He had first seen his Shin-chan on the 9 and ¾ platform, surrounded by reporters. He noticed the commotion was about a certain group but from his perspective -and considering how well he could see everything, it was something- only Midorima existed in there. Why that was so, he wasn’t sure. His eyes had caught the green hair and the cute blush and his mind immediately began planning. He just had to talk to that guy!

But he had not approached him right away. After saying goodbye to his uncle and promising to say something if he ended up on Hufflepuff, he had boarded and proceeded to befriend anyone he could find. That’s how he rolled. He wanted to know and liked to be known.

That’s why he was so happy when he had stumbled across a very alone Midorima Shintarō! How lucky! And he was even cuter on a closer look than he had first anticipated! Takao was also a good judge of character. And he was even happier that he had contained himself from showing his talents. That meant his first wand study had been Shin-chan’s. How happy!

“Let go of my hand Bakao! It’s embarrassing!” Midorima tried to sound angry, and to anyone it would’ve made them flinch, but Takao could see beyond that and directly to the small rosy color on the other’s cheek. How cute! 

The great majority of the students was leaving for the grounds and Takao watched them go before following the gruff voice that was calling the first years. As they approached the lake he could see a giant man, not really a giant but really huge man wearing a mole coat! “Firs' years! Hurry firs’ years! Four per boat! Hurry!”

He was about to drag Shin-chan to the first when he felt the boy tense. Thanks to his acute eyesight he didn’t need to turn around to look at the boy’s scared face or the angry red head glaring from a distance. What was with that guy?! He really didn’t like the way he was looking at Shin-chan. Like he owned him! And mind you, he usually was a friendly guy that just loved everyone. That guy… was the exception to the rule. He really hated him and they hadn’t even been introduced.

It lasted a fraction of a second but he clearly felt like Midorima was going to head to where that guy was, despite them holding hands, and his body moved automatically; with a sudden trust he effectively blocked the others vision of each other and quickly headed to a boat further apart from the other, like nothing was amidst.

“Shin-chan lets go on this one!”

x

Takao really was a shameful person! Why did he insist they held hands? It was embarrassing! Midorima could only hope no one was paying them attention. Optimistically, in the middle of the night, it would be hard to see them.

In the middle of his search for potential witness he felt a chill of horror course down his spine. He could tell he was glaring. He just had to slightly turn his head and there he would be.

Akashi was mad. Not just angry. Mad. That was not good. Oh God! He had forgotten to return! He had promised. Akashi was going to kill him!

He had just forgotten about everything after Takao had arrived and they had just spent the rest of the time doing nothing special. If eating an entire Bertie Botts Beans bag is called nothing special. Why had he been so excited about that?! True he had been extremely lucky and only gotten liver, spinach (because he doesn’t like them), pepper and fish oil whereas Takao gotten booger, earwax and mud, probably because he didn’t have his lucky item. But really! Akashi was definitely in for murder right now!

Maybe if he apologized right away he could get away with minor injuries. Yeah… he had to go apologize… but of course things are not so easy.

For some reason Takao, who he had forgotten about for a moment, suddenly started pulling him faster and soon Akashi was out of sight. Not that he couldn’t feel, still, the other’s glare. But he couldn’t see him even if he tried to crack his neck up to above the other people.

“Shin-chan lets go on this one!”

He barely had time to think before he was thrown about and they were seating in a small wooden boat. He was about to yell at him for being rude again but he noticed Takao look a bit edgy at the moment. He seemed to be trying to mask it with a smile. It looked almost natural. Almost.

“Shin-chan… the castle looks so gorgeous right now!”

Forgetting about Akashi for a moment – he was forgetting a lot of things lately wasn’t he? – he turned to look at the sight in the distance. True, the stone building stood majestically on the other side of the lake, millions of light spots, torches perhaps, giving him a magical glow.

“It does-nanodayo.”

“Nanodayo.” Takao parroted at the same time but he didn’t have time to scold him before they were interrupted.

“Oh, Midorima-kun? What a surprise. Can we seat here? The others are full.” Kuroko made himself known with his usual freaky way and the frowning boy with red hair behind him looked embarrassed.

“Kuroko?” He did not expect to see the other so soon. But, he was in the mood to upset Akashi so it really shouldn’t be unexpected that he had chosen him and not the other. God! Akashi was going to think that he and Kuroko had been plotting to upset him! No wonder he was mad!  

“Friends of yours, Shin-chan? Come in, come in!” Takao patted the seats behind them.

Friends? He definitely did not know the red haired delinquent looking guy, but what about Kuroko? He had been questioning the definition of friend as of lately.

Grumbling he held tight as the boat shook when the new passengers entered it. “So… who’s your new friend Midorima-kun?” Kuroko asked him, and he could’ve sworn he looked amused.

“I’m Takao Kazunari! Nice to meet you! Are you Shin-chan’s friends?” The raven greeted cheerfully.

“Somewhat… I’m Kuroko Tetsuya.” The other answered calmly and somewhere from behind them a gruff voice commanded the boats forward. All heads turned expectantly to the redhead and he awkwardly presented himself again, to which Midorima answered in kind not helping to notice the poor state Kagami’s clothes were in.

And then they sat in awkward silence as the castle drew near, the noise of excited whispers all around them as the other students were starting to get nervous. Ah, maybe he should be nervous as well… His future…

“Why are your hairs all so… extravagant!? I feel left out! And that blue reminds me of penicillin!” Takao broke the awkward silence. He didn’t seem to like silence very much. It was good that Kuroko probably didn’t know what penicillin was.

x

Kuroko watched the raven with interest. He had been surprised to find Midorima with a guy like this. He seemed to be the total opposite of his type. He wondered about the reasons that led Takao to hang around his friend. Midorima wasn’t the best guy to be cheerful around.

Also, it was disconcerting how he seemed to look at him as if he could really see him. Normally first timers meeting him would quickly lose track of him and ignore him after a few minutes, but he was sure Takao was seeing him perfectly. Akashi and the others, after many years of being together had somewhat managed to lose that “habit” a bit.

“So… Takao-kun… when did you and Midorima-kun became friends?”

“Just now!” That guy was almost as shiny as Kise. But less annoying.

“Takao is very knowledgeable in wandlore. It’s quite interesting-nanodayo.”

Oh! Had Midorima just defended the other? That was new! And Takao seemed surprised about as well.

“Shin-chan, thinks I’m interesting! I feel so happy!” Takao looked genuinely happy at least.

“That sounds so cool…!” Kagami exclaimed in wonder making the midnight haired boy blush a bit from embarrassment and happiness.

“Want me to examine yours?”

The redhead looked quite excited about it and honestly, Kuroko also wanted to see. If Midorima-kun claimed it was interesting then it most certainly would be. As Takao took the other’s wand in hand, everyone reached forward to better look. Even Midorima watched the boy work with awe. It was a sight to see him interest in something besides himself.

Takao worked with a professional look, if Kuroko’s limited knowledge could tell. He rotated the stick a couple of times, waved it and tried to bend it and once or twice he looked at the redhead questioningly. Finally he flipped it around in his hands and presented the handle to the other looking quite satisfied with himself.

“You tried to trick me! That wand is not yours!” he smirked at the other boy’s stunned expression.

“Wow! You could tell?!”

“Spruce, eleven and three quarter inches, quite bendy and Unicorn hair core.A spruce wand requires a firm hand and a bold spell-caster with a good sense of humor. Even if I didn’t know your personality I can tell you right away that it’s too small for you!” He pumped his chest with pride. “With how much you’re going to grow I think a wand for you should have at least, minimum, thirteen inches.”

“You can tell how much he’s going to grow?” He was quite amazed. This guy really was interesting.

“It’s essential for a wandmaker. Because first wands are bought when you are children, a wandmaker must know how much you’ll grow to give you a matching wand. It doesn’t always have to be like that but big hands usually need a bigger wand.” The raven explained.

“Then… will you check mine too?” He really wanted to know. He felt really excited. Not that the rest of the people in the boat could tell but he was.

Takao took his wand in hand and performed the same tests he had for Kagami’s wand and quickly handed it back, but this time he finished with an impressed whistle.

“Cedar, eleven and a quarter inch, slightly yielding and phoenix feather core. Strength of character and unusual loyalty;perspicacity and perception; the potential to be a frightening adversary. Man, you are the package!”

x

He thought that Kuroko looked excited. It was kind of hard to tell.

It was a shame he didn’t have a wand of his own; so that Takao could tell him what personality it had.

“I suggest you change that wand in a few years. It won’t work very well for you. Thankfully its previous owner seemed to have liked you because it doesn’t seem displeased about it.” Takao turned to Kagami once more.

“Yeah… I’m good friends with Alex.” He smiled a bit at that. On the other hand, the wand really sounded like her.

“Won’t your friend miss his wand?” Kuroko asked by his side, always with a passive face.

“ **She** won’t miss **her** wand. Alex has Progressive Squib Syndrome.” The read head sighed sadly. It was such a shame, and she didn’t deserve such a fate.

“Shin-chan, what is Progressive Squib Syndrome?” Takao pulled the guy’s sleeve, whose name seemed to be Midorima, not Shin-chan, and enthusiastically – he seemed enthusiastic about almost everything! – tried to get him to tell him what he wanted.

“It should be what the name implies, no?” Kuroko arched his eyebrow unimpressed, the biggest expression he had managed in the last few hours. “Midorima-kun’s parents are healers at St. Mungo's. He knows a lot of stuff. He’s going to be a good healer himself.” He explained Kagami.

“Forgive the Muggleborn here.” The green haired boy tapped the raven’s head. “Do you know what a Squib is?” He asked him.

The boy made a show of think hard pretending his head was going to explode, until they could almost see the light bulb light up in his head. “Dummy me! A Squib is the opposite of me!” He pointed at himself as if he had said a great joke.

Midorima looked like he wanted to protest but he turned pensive and after a while it looked like he had a revelation. Whatever it was, they never discovered because he quickly started to explain. “Then…  PSS is when a wizard, for no apparent reason, starts to lose his magical capabilities and eventually loses them completely, making him or her… a squib in the end. The cause is unknown and there is no current cure available.” Strangely he seemed excited about it.

“Shin-chan…” But Takao never got to finish because somewhere in the boats up front, and they were the last of the line, the giant man told them to duck.

After they passed the claustrophobic hole they entered a small dock where they disembarked; and Kagami knew. They were at Hogwarts.

x

Shintarō wasn’t usually one to be scared. He knew the basis of the House selection, so the crazy ideas of the many students around himself seemed almost laughable. But, nevertheless, he still was, because he didn’t know where he should be selected into.

He could fell Akashi’s irritated aura up at the front of the line. What should he do!?

The teacher up front, whose name was Longbottom and was their supposed Herbology teacher, was explaining some basic rules and why they had to wait for so long in that small hall while they waited for the rest of their school life to be decided, and Midorima was feeling slightly faint and weak.

The giant man, whose name appeared to Hagrid and apparently was the Keeper of Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts – big title for a big man – had left them with Professor Longbottom, after some friendly greetings, as if they were great friends and had gone through a lot together, and had gone ahead to the dinner hall.  

He gripped his cactus closer to himself. He was so nervous! He had been thinking about what to do for so long that when stupid Takao grabbed his hand and pulled he was surprised the line was walking again.

“Shin-chan…” Takao seemed to notice his mindset. Encouragingly, he squeezed his hand as they walked. Suddenly he felt him get closer and heard a soft whisper. “You know… If you ask the hat, he will place you where you want to be placed.” He looked at the young man besides him with surprise. Really? Then… if anyone could choose what was the point of real selection?!

Feeling better, he squeezed the hand back, and his little cactus. He could do what he could and fate would provide.

“When you hear your name, seat on the bench and put the hat on.” Professor Longbottom explained the small group of first years that had stopped in the middle of the Great Hall in between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables.

Midorima heard a few comments about the small number of new students but the small parchment of paper was unrolled and the teacher started calling.

 “Akashi Seijūrō.” Figures he would be first.

A quick murmur exploded at the mention of his name. But Akashi strode from between the other first years like he was a God and calmly sat on the bench. The hat barely touched the first strands of hair before it was roaming. “Slytherin!”

The far off table to the left irrupted in loud clapping. And the redhead walked to it without hesitation. Thankfully he seemed to be in a better mood.

Trying to call, above the loud clapping, Professor Longbottom called for Arthur Clef and Andrino Rita, who both turned out to be Hufflepuff. After that he called for Aomine Daiki which caused another wave of whispering.

The bluenet looked bored as he sat on the stool and there he remained. Midorima thought he saw him speaking to himself, and then he remembered that maybe he was talking to the hat. Once or twice he looked at the Slytherin table and more times he looked at the table he knew was Gryffindor. Finally the hat decided on Slytherin. The blue haired boy didn’t look bored anymore as he joined the loud table of the snake.

After that Boggy Peter, Clerence Dorothy and Drosselmeyer Ahiru where called. They entered Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor respectively. Hufflepuff received yet Fukuda Hiroshi. Finally a very nervous Furihata Kōki, that tripped all over himself and seemed to be sweating buckets, was chosen, for some reason, to be in Gryffindor.

The scarlet house received as well Holmes Shirley, that was yet another near hatstall; that one lasted almost four minutes, the hat seeming to be unable to decide between Ravenclaw and the lion house.

“Kagami Taiga.”

The redhead looked intimidating as he walked past the scared first years. Yet he picked up the hat with a reverence that said more than his face. If Midorima wasn’t so nervous himself it would be laughable.

“Gryffindor!” Three perfect seconds. Wow.

“Kawahara Kōichi”

“Hufflepuff.”

“Kise Ryouta.” The blond left the group confidently and looked like he couldn’t wait any other second to be selected, as the women in the room appreciated his good looks. Kise was a pretty boy and never said no to an interview so he was relatively well known.

Shintarō was about to pass the fifteen seconds level when the hat selected him into Slytherin as well. No surprises so far.

“Kuroko Tetsuya.” Now we’re talking. In an almost morbid way he couldn’t wait to see what would happen now. “Kuroko Tetsuya? Is he here?” The Professor called.

A low murmur and chuckles filled the room and a small voice from the stool spoke. “I’m here.” Of course he was already sitting and had the hat on.

“Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t see you.” The man was looking scarlet from embarrassment. And they waited, and waited, as yet another near hatstall appeared. If one would have known Kuroko as the GoM knew, they would have noticed that the boy was pouting as he argued discreetly with the hat.

For a moment he wondered if he would change his mind and join the others on the green table. But the hat answered his questions. “Gryffindor.” And happily, Kuroko strolled away to his table that was cheering enthusiastically having acquired one of the Miracles.

Looking on the other direction, Midorima watched as Akashi’s expression shifted from shocked to angry. Honestly… he felt that his shocked face had been quite funny.

He had made a decision. He barely registered as Lapley Sandra and Lucas Zacarias where both chosen to Ravenclaw, but he woke from his trance right away.

“Midorima Shintarō.” It was time. Absently he felt another squeeze from the hand that was holding his - had they been holding hands all this time? How embarrassing… - before he squeezed back one last time and let go.

His feet guided him almost mechanically and stiffly he placed the hat on his head covering part of his view of people reaching forward to better take a look at him.

‘Ah, another hard one, hey! It’s full of them this year. I’m glad I like challenges!’ Shintarō heard a voice, half on his ear, half inside his mind. ‘Let’s see… I see lots of valor inside you but what really stands out is definitely that intelligence, the wit and of course… the potential for greatness. Maybe a Gryffindor? Nah… You lack some important qualities for that… Definitely not a Hufflepuff! Of course it’s going to be between Ravenclaw and Slytherin!’

“Not Slytherin.” Midorima whispered back to the voice.

‘Not Slytherin, eh? I don’t know… are you sure? They can be powerful allies and you have the qualities for pursuing big ambitions!’ The voice mocked him.

Midorima glanced at the Slytherin table and for a moment considered it. Should he do it? Maybe it would help him become greater. He wanted to be famous, better than most wizards. Then he caught sight of a crazy raven peeping from behind a tall guy in the small left over group. He was from the few that didn’t look nervous and seemed particularly excited to hear where Midorima was going to be placed. Ah… He really didn’t want to go to Slytherin. Going back to Akashi like usual. Like a dog to its master.

“No, not Slytherin, please.”

He could hear the voice laughing as if he was extremely entertaining. ‘I see… not Slytherin then! That just leaves you with…’

“Ravenclaw!”

While still in a daze, he gently placed the old hat back on the stool and took his place on the blue table that was now clapping enthusiastically for being able to snatch at least one of the Miracles. He could feel behind his back, Akashi’s aura; considerably less angry than he expected, more on to the shocked side. On his side numerous people, from several years, excitedly tried to shake his hand and to make him remember their names. Attention suckers, looking for a little bit of contact with someone famous… like he had first thought Kazunari was.

And speaking of that, he could see the raven giving him a big thumbs up from where he was. It was a shame. Despite all, he was pretty sure he knew where Takao was going to be selected to; and it wasn’t Ravenclaw.

Moving back to the hat, Midorima noticed that Momoi had been called after him. She was discreetly talking to the hat and soon he sent her to Slytherin, back to her Dai-chan. When she passed his table she gave him a nervous look. He wondered if Akashi would give her a hard time for not having predicted this sooner. He felt bad for her.

After her, it was Murasakibara’s turn and Shintarō was sure he broke the record for a hatstall, a real hatstall, which was previously 5 minutes and half. True to be told, the purple haired boy had almost no personality, other than childishness. Even the hat looked constipated as if he couldn’t get out what he wanted and he must have been trying hard to squeeze as much as he could from the boy. Luckily the guy seemed to get bored from it and quickly told the hat he wanted to go to Slytherin. He betted the hat had never been so happy that someone knew where they wanted to be placed.

“Sakurai Ryou.” The petit guy that walked to the bench was shaking more than a wet poodle. As he approached the hat he seemingly tripped and it took at least two minutes to stop him from apologizing, sometimes to the teacher, others to the hat, to the students, to the air or whatever it was he tripped on and mostly to the world for ever being born. When Professor Longbottom finally managed to force the hat on him, it only took two seconds before he was selected to Slytherin.

There was a great silence in the hall for the first time.

Had Murasakibara broken the ancient sorting hat? That guy was clearly Hufflepuff material! It was clear that everyone agreed with him as even Professor Longbottom tried to place the hat back two times more; still the result was always the same and the last time, the sorting hat got mad and bluntly asked him if he was doubting his judgment. So poor Sakurai was released to the wolfs, or snakes in this case.

“… okay… let’s continue. Takao Kazunari.”

The guy was practically skipping now. Takao excitedly took his seat and waited with all the expectancy of the world; the huge hat in his head twisted here and there, his indicator that it was thinking hard but Midorima’s prediction was correct.

“Gryffindor!”

Applauses erupted from the lion table and the boy cheerfully skipped there, after meeting his eye and showering him with a bright smile.

“And finally… Tanaka Kuromi.”

More murmurs filled the hall, but this time he noted that there was no excitement in them. The girl, whose hair was a blue so dark it was almost black, simply took her seat as if nothing was amiss. Tanaka… He remembered that name from somewhere. It was someone from the ministry.

“Ravenclaw!”

There was barely any applause coming from their table, he noted. Still, she walked to them as if ignoring them, and sat quietly. How odd.

She took a seat right next to him, and some of her long hair fell on his shoulder. He wondered if he should talk to her. But he was incapable on socialization so he decided against it.

A scruffy short guy cleared his throat from behind the headmaster’s stand and all heads turned to look at him.

“Welcome students. My name is Scrubbiest Harold, I’m the mediator between Hogwarts and the Ministry. As you know, for the past few years Hogwarts has been without a Headmaster, after Professor McGonagall retired – not that we don’t have candidates – so the Ministry is currently taking care of all the bureaucracies. Still, I hope you’ll all behave and listen to the House Heads as if there was still a Headmaster in this school. I ask the Heads not to forget the usual warnings so that there will be no repeats from last year. That is all. Have a good school year.” And without any more words he hopped away.

Ah. Tanaka… he was one of the candidates to the Headmaster position. Except he tried to buy his way in. Still was, probably. Hogwarts Headmaster seemed to be a very important title for some reason. Ever since Hogwarts involvement in the Dark Lord’s defeat a few years back, the school had gained a new prestige and of course, being the leader of such an organization was of high status.  

Midorima risked a small glance to the girl on his right. If she wasn’t breathing he would have mistaken her for a life sized doll, her face more stoic than Kuroko’s.

The teachers seemed somewhat surprised with Scruffiest’s sudden departure and took them a minute or so, before someone gave the signal for the feast to commence. As soon as the word was given, the plates in front of him filled to the brim with delicious food and several appreciative and happy exclamations where heard through the room; two in particular, louder than the rest. One form behind him, that was clearly Murasakibara and another up front that he recognized as Kagami’s.

The way the two attacked the food in front of them made Shintarō wonder if they were trying to compete with one another, and made him feel very bad about the students that were sitting the closest to the two monsters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here you have it. Super long chapter with just their selection.  
> Kuromi is the only OC, apart from teachers, that I’ll introduce to the story, because she’ll be important in the future.   
> Head count of new students: 6 Slytherin, 5 Ravenclaw, 6 Gryffindor, 5 Hufflepuff. Very few, but rest assured that everything has a reason. Next chapter we’ll get to see the common rooms, older students and the first confrontation with a pissed Akashi.  
> Now……………. For core wandlore I’ll just put here the three supreme cores (which are the ones Ollivander uses):  
> Unicorn hair: generally produces the most consistent magic, and is least subject to fluctuations and blockages. Wands with unicorn cores are generally the most difficult to turn to the Dark Arts. They are the most faithful of all wands, and usually remain strongly attached to their first owner, irrespective of whether he or she was an accomplished witch or wizard. Minor disadvantages of unicorn hair are that they do not make the most powerful wands (although the wand wood may compensate) and that they are prone to melancholy if seriously mishandled, meaning that the hair may ‘die’ and need replacing.  
> Dragon heartstring: as a rule, dragon heartstrings produce wands with the most power, and which are capable of the most flamboyant spells. Dragon wands tend to learn more quickly than other types. While they can change allegiance if won from their original master, they always bond strongly with the current owner. The dragon wand tends to be easiest to turn to the Dark Arts, though it will not incline that way of its own accord. It is also the most prone of the three cores to accidents, being somewhat temperamental.  
> Phoenix feather: this is the rarest core type. Phoenix feathers are capable of the greatest range of magic, though they may take longer than either unicorn or dragon cores to reveal this. They show the most initiative, sometimes acting of their own accord, a quality that many witches and wizards dislike. Phoenix feather wands are always the pickiest when it comes to potential owners, for the creature from which they are taken is one of the most independent and detached in the world. These wands are the hardest to tame and to personalize, and their allegiance is usually hard won.


	4. Friendships

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU. What if the KnB cast had been born in the Harry Potter world? This is how I imagine it. Cute GoM shota and lots of magic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N.: So today I’m going to introduce the older students, of the KnB world and the common rooms. Hufflepuff will be left out unfortunately (even though it’s my House), because there are no main characters in there, and Slytherin (for now), despite being the most beautiful one, because main characters are from Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. I seriously like Slytherin’s common room so I’m going to include scenes later, like their fourth or fifth year (because I have plot for that).  
> I totally forgot about Kuroko and Kagami’s wandlore last chapter:  
> Alex (Kagami’s first wand) – Spruce, eleven and three quarter inches, quite bendy and Unicorn hair core. “Unskilled wandmakers call spruce a difficult wood, but in doing so they reveal their own ineptitude; it is quite true that it requires particular deftness to work with spruce, which produces wands that are ill-matched with cautious or nervous natures, becoming positively dangerous in fumbling fingers. The spruce wand requires a firm hand, because it often appears to have its own ideas about what magic it ought to be called upon to produce. However, when a spruce wand meets its match - which, in my experience, is a bold spell-caster with a good sense of humour - it becomes a superb helper, intensely loyal to their owners and capable of producing particularly flamboyant and dramatic effects.” Ollivander  
> Kuroko Tetsuya – Cedar, eleven and a quarter inch, slightly yielding and phoenix feather core. Garrick Ollivander believed that whenever he met one who carries a cedar wand, he found strength of character and unusual loyalty. His father, Gervaise Ollivander, used always to say, ‘you will never fool the cedar carrier,’ and he agrees: the cedar wand finds its perfect home where there is perspicacity and perception.  
> Ollivander said that he would go further than his father, however, in saying that he has never yet met the owner of a cedar wand whom he would care to cross, especially if harm is done to those of whom they are fond. The witch or wizard who is well-matched with cedar carries the potential to be a frightening adversary, which often comes as a shock to those who have thoughtlessly challenged them.  
> The Almighty Pyro thank you for reviewing again. Yes, considering the Hat’s “guidelines” for selecting the students, that was what I thought about Sakurai. I actually like him a lot. And he has that hidden “bad” side of him that we discovered on the second game against Seirin, so I thought it was appropriate. I had never thought about the GoM as Headmasters but that actually is quite interesting and a possible future career for one of them.

Feeling stuffed, Kuroko gave one last bite to his dessert and promptly gave up. It was the best food he had ever tasted. If he had a bigger stomach he would have stuffed some more in, like Kagami-kun.

He was starting to feel sleepy and sluggish as most of the students around him. Even Kagami-kun was starting to lose his prowess as it was. To pass the time as he waited for the others to finish their meals, he took this opportunity to watch the other students and most of all, the teachers. The teacher’s table was packed and he could see several things that popped up his attention right away. There was a centaur on one of the tips, as he couldn’t sit in a chair, an half giant man – the same that had lead them there – and on the light, he could see that there were several shades of gray fighting to take over his naturally dark hair, a witch in a green gown with long hair, which was spiked up, deeply arguing with another witch that would most likely be going on maternity leave soon and a tiny Professor that could be part elf or maybe goblin. The chair in the middle remained respectfully empty but the bluenet could see from the corner of his eye some teachers ogling the majestic seat.

Somehow, he had a feeling that only a few personal was truly happy to see the students. Most of them seemed to be counting the time for the end of the meal. Tetsuya knew that Hogwarts had been walking among some bad rumor lately but this was disconcerting.

Then he noticed that no else was eating anymore, and apparently so did whatever entity was that put food on their table because as soon as he had that realization, the plates became clean as if no one had ever used them.

x

That dinner was the best! Alex wasn’t joking when she said he would never starve. That was more than he could keep inside! And that was hard.

“Kagami-kun eats a lot.” The blue haired boy pointed out besides him.

“And you don’t eat enough! Are you really okay with just that much?” Taiga answered back. The guy reminded him of a small bird when he was eating. “You’ll never grow big and strong if you don’t eat enough!”

He was so freaky and stoic and invisible and… something else… “Not everyone can have a black hole for a stomach…” Kuroko pouted slightly and the red head wondered if it was the strongest expression he was capable of.

Kagami wasn’t capable of arguing back at him because on that moment Professor Longbottom stood and clapped his hands loudly calling for everyone’s attention.

“Dinner has ended. Now for the announcements… Please remember that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to the students and that magic is for classes only. Parties in the school’s library are forbidden and teachers are allowed to take up to fifty points… per student, if they catch anyone involved with one. We ask you to please stop trying to grow bull frogs in the Weasley’s swamp on the little window in the second floor. It is one of the many tributes we manage to salvage from some of the darkest times Hogwarts as seen. We would really like to keep it, and the Ministry has had his eyes on it lately, so…” He laughed slightly, as to pass it as a joke, but no one bought it, so he continued. “There have been some changes on the House Heads. As some of you know, I’m the Head of Gryffindor, Herbology’s teacher, and Professor Flitwick, the Charm’s teacher, is the Head for Ravenclaw. This year we have Professor Charles, teaching Aritmancy, as the Head for Slytherin and after Professor Saturn’s retirement, Professor Goose, the Potions teacher, will take her place as the Head of Hufflepuff.” A big round of applause followed his announcement, manly from the badger table. “Yes, Professor Goose is quite popular among Hufflepuff. Uh… Oh, yes! Thankfully, this year we were capable of find a candidate for Defense against the Dark Arts, before the beginning of the school year. Thank you Professor Daemon for taking time from the Auror Department for this. And finally… as it has become tradition on the last few years… we’ll sing Hogwarts’ song in memory of Hogwarts most beloved Headmaster!”

The song ended up being a ridiculous mix of people singing in different tunes and no harmony but the teachers seemed to be more than happy to hear it like that. He would’ve to ask Alex about it.

“Please have a nice night and we’ll see you tomorrow for your first classes. Perfects please lead the students to their common rooms.”

“Man…! Can’t wait to hit the mattress! Ah! I’ll have to wait for tomorrow to talk to Shin-chan…” The guy, whose name he remembered was Takao, was mumbling to himself, and everyone within earshot, while, like Kagami, rubbing his slightly puffed belly and looking longingly the Ravenclaw table.

“What do you see in that guy? He’s weird!” He had to ask. The green haired boy had struck him as peculiar but mostly a bit arrogant.

“Eh! Shin-chan is so cute! He’s a tsundere! Tsunderes have this kind of appeal!” He excitedly tried to explain Kagami as they walked with the other Gryffindors. “Kuroko, you have been friends with Shin-chan before, right? So you understand, right?!” Takao turned to Kuroko instead.

“No. I was actually wondering the same as Kagami-kun.” Kuroko answered him plainly.

“How mean! But… that means more Shin-chan for me! Just kidding!” The raven laughed and he couldn’t help think that everyone on this school so far was weird.

As they climbed the stairs he noticed the Slytherins heading for the dungeons. He tried to catch a glimpse of Tatsuya but the black mass was mostly indistinguishable except for a few brightly colored hairs that could only belong to the people that had caused all the commotion with the selection. What the hell had been that? Everyone had been so tense and excited at the same time. Who were those people?

A bit dejected, Kagami turned to follow everyone else. The journey upstairs was long and tiresome after such a magnificent dinner. Why did the Gryffindor common room had to be on the seventh floor!? Once or twice the stairs decided to change as they were about to go on, and ended up having to take the long way around. It was if they were trying to prevent them from getting to their destination!

But in the end it paid off. Because on the end of the corridor, leading to the tallest tower of the school, their room waited and it didn’t disappoint.

“The password?” The Fat Lady asked.

“Gosma.”

x

 The first years were the last to enter the tower and probably because a soon as they entered they stopped to appreciate the amazing view.

It was times like this that Takao enjoyed possessing such an amazing eye view. From his position he could see the whole circular room with all its greatness. From the scarlet tapestries to the large fireplace and the comfortable looking squashy armchairs. It looked perfect!

“Well, listen first years!” The guy that was their Perfect called for their attention. “Rules are simple. This is the common room. You behave and gain house points. We are better that Slytherin and that’s all you need to know!” And with that shocking lack of responsibility, the guy simply left. Left! What the hell!?

He, like the rest of his peers was now at loss of what to do. The small group of first years consisted of him, Kuroko, Kagami, a nervous looking guy, and two girls. Wow! Man, they were a _huge_ group… maybe those rumors about the school were true… what’s with this small number of people! And the other Houses weren’t faring any better from what he saw.

“So… should we look for the dormitories?” The most composed of the girls asked. The other girl just nodded looking slightly spaced out and… oh! Her stockings had white and red stripes! That’s against the school’s uniform regulations, no?

“That guy, seriously!!” They all jumped a bit when a glasses wearing boy showed up. “Why can’t he do his job properly!?”

“Wait Hyuuga-kun! You’re scaring the first years!” A girl with light chestnut hair followed behind him. “They’ll think everyone here is crazy!”

“Eh? We’re not Ravenclaw you know…” A second guy popped out from behind them. He was huge!

While everyone else just looked a bit shocked at the sudden change of pace, Takao just couldn’t stop laughing as the three of them bickered like an old couple. This caused everyone to look at him instead but at least the arguing stopped.

“Man… things are lively down here!” Three more boys appeared and this time he could tell that there was a door in there. So that’s where the dorms where! “Hyuuga, I thought you said you were helping the newcomers because Seiji was an idiot that didn’t know how to do his job.” The guy with a mouth that reminded him of a cat addressed the boy with glasses.

“Gimme a minute, idiot!” He cleared his throat before finally turning to them. “I’m sorry about that guy’s stupidity a while ago. Eh… We may not be the best people to help you out but we are second years so we kind of got the hang of things already. You can come to us if there’s something you need help with. My name is Hyuuga Junpei and right now I’m the captain of the Quidditch team.”

The petit brunette by his side jumped in. “I’m Aida Riko, and listen up! This year, because the whole team from last year graduated, they are going to allow first years in! It’s a first! If you’re interested, you can take part on the auditions!” She looked like she was shooting stars but underneath he could see that she was evil. It was almost pouring out of her, an incredible Spartan energy!

“We are on the team as well.” A raven haired boy chimed in form the group that had arrived later. He couldn’t tell but there was something about the guy that he didn’t like. “My name is Izuki Shun. Nice to meet you.”

“I’mKoganei Shinji and this silent guy here is Mitobe Rinnosuke.” The guy with a cat mouth pointed to a tall boy behind him. He didn’t say anything but bowed politely as a greeting.

“And my name is Kiyoshi Teppei. Don’t feel shy to show up any ways. It’s good for the regular players to have someone to practice against. Last year we practiced with the team and were made official members this year.” This one was the really tall one! But he looked like a nice guy anyways.

So of course that with the prospective of Quidditch, they ended up staying up a bit longer than intended. Only the girls didn’t seemed particularly interested and after a bit, they decided to retire and went up to their room with Aida-san.

The senpais spoke enthusiastically about the new sport season, and even him, that never had paid much attention to the sport, was getting excited about it. Of course being Muggleborn, Takao didn’t have as much contact with Quidditch as the others but he knew the rules. He wondered if Shin-chan would be interested in playing. It was a shame that they couldn’t play in the same team but at least they could play against each other, if Shin-chan wanted to play, of course… 

Teppei-san was mostly trying to encourage them to show up for practices, even if they didn’t make it on the team but Hyuuga and Izuki-san were quite impressed about Kagami’s physics and Koganei was trying to convince the nervous guy, his name was Furihata, that he would be a good Chaser. They didn’t seem to pay much attention to Kuroko, weird. Kagami was the most enthusiastic but even his excited talk was finally interrupted by a loud yawn.

“Oops! It’s quite late; we should show these guys the dorms and go to bed. We have classes early tomorrow.” Teppei chimed in and thank you for that! Takao could barely keep his eyes open another second.

They climbed the spiral staircase and Kazunari was happy to note that they had a full dorm to themselves! He quickly spotted his suitcase and jumped on to the matters.

“Aaahhh! Finally… Whoa! This is awesome!” He jumped on the bed a bit, feeling the mattress launch him up. “The bed is the best!”

“Hey! I hope you’ll not do that all night! I want to sleep…”

“Oh come on… you want to jump as well, don’t you!” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

The redhead frowned and stared at his own mattress, clearly fighting with himself. In the end it was Kuroko that ended his conflict by jumping on his own bed. Soon they were all jumping up, laughing with each other; even Furihata-kun seemed to have lost his anxiety.

Eventually, after a few minutes their uproar died down; one by one they crawled under their covers and the night quickly filled with quiet snoring.

x

Shintarō woke up the next morning, not knowing where he was.

His canopy bed, in blue and bronze colors, was very comfortable and roomy but the room was unknown to him. A small ray of light entered the stone room from the window, allowing him to appreciate the space before him.

There were more beds in the room besides his own, but only another one was occupied. Bellow the covers he could distinguish a messy bed hair that reminded him of Kuroko.

Kuroko… and Akashi… and the House selection and Hogwarts! Yes. This was the Ravenclaw dormitory in the Ravenclaw Tower, where the common room was. Right. He was fine. He was still alive, Akashi hadn’t killed him yet, and today was the first day of classes. Oh goodie!

Hooping out of bed, Shintarō headed for his personal work desk - thankfully every student was awarded one because of the small number of first years, and thankfully too because he sure wouldn’t like to share such an important thing with someone that may not respect it properly.

He checked his luck for the day. With Akashi out to get him and a whole day of new classes he needed to be prepared. Seventh place, “… beware of Sagittarius today. Better stay close to Leo…” Ah great!

“First years! Are you up yet?!” Someone knocked on their door before coming in.

The guy on the bed - what was his name? Zack? Zick? - jumped two feet in the air before burying himself back in the covers.

“If you’re up get ready and head to the great hall for breakfast. Better early than late. Do you need to be taken there or do you remember the way?” The older student seemed nice and responsible and maybe he should have paid better attention to the people introducing themselves yesterday. Shintarō nodded his thanks but he could remember just fine.

Then they both turned to the sleeping one but he didn’t stir any further. Sighing, the raven haired boy moved to his side. “Oi! Wake up! You’re going to be late!” And proceeded to kick him to wake him up.

“Kasamatsu? What are you doing?” Another student appeared at the door, and Shintarō was starting to get annoyed. It would be nice to have some privacy to get dressed.

“Taking care of the juniors.” Kasamatsu answered him and proceeded to push a very frazzled first year out of bed. “Rise and shine!”

The fourth guy soon lost interest on the scene and left. Shintarō wondered if he should start avoiding this Kasamatsu guy. His “caring” seemed to involve a lot of violence. “Say… Kasamatsu-san, what is your zodiac sign?”

“Uh? Leo, why?” So much for avoiding.

“I’ve changed my mind. Please accompany me to the Great Hall. I’ll wait in the common room.”

xxx

Shintarō took a moment to appreciate the beauty of his common room, before Kasamatsu returned from his mission to take good care of his juniors.

The Ravenclaw common room was one of the airiest rooms he had ever seen. The circular room had a beautiful midnight blue carpet, arched windows with blue and bronze silks, and a domed ceiling painted with stars. The majority of the furniture in the room was composed by tables, chairs, and bookcases, more focused in the art of studding than comfort. He liked it. It was good to know that he was in a serious environment that would greatly benefit his work.

The view of the school grounds was another thing. They could see everything. If you walked around the room he would be able to see the lake, the Forbidden Forest, the Quidditch pitch, the Herbology gardens and the surrounding mountains. He could also see some other towers from the school, and a small red banter outside a window told him exactly where the Gryffindor tower was. He wondered if Takao was awake already.

“Okay, guys! Let’s go!” Kasamatsu called as he rounded Rowena Ravenclaw’s statue, pulling a groggy first year with him.

Silently, he followed out of the door that opened up for them. He had been surprised yesterday. The door leading to the room didn’t have a doorknob or keyhole, but a bronze knocker in the shape of an eagle. In order to enter the room, a person must answer a riddle asked by the eagle knocker; if they answer incorrectly, they must wait for someone else who gets it right. The Perfect had given them the chance to try and guess yesterday’s riddle, but he was so tired that he couldn’t even remember what it had been.

They passed several other students on their way down the stairs that had also decided to get an early start on breakfast and soon they were back to the Hall. The tables were only one third full so Midorima leisurely took his pick. Half way through a big plate of eggs, rolls and sausages the number of students started to pick up and Professor Longbottom begun to deliver class schedules. The first years’ first class was Transfiguration followed by Potions. He would probably share his classes with every House’s first years considering their numbers.

“Shiiiiiiinnnnnn-chan!!!” And something big collided with his left shoulder at high speed. “Shin-chan! Did you miss me? I missed you! Did you have fun? Do you like your House? I like my House! What’s your first class? Do we have classes together? D-ugh…” Midorima managed to stop his ridiculous tirade by clamping his hand to his mouth.

“Bakao… It has only been 10 hours since we last saw each other! Why would I miss you in that period of time-nanodayo?” But he did wonder if he was having fun on his House. And he was glad that he at least had someone to accompany him to classes.

The other’s eyes grew big in shock and a slight blush covered his cheeks. Carefully pilling away Midorima’s hand, Takao chuckled slightly, looking embarrassed. “Wow, Shin-chan… thank you! Of course I’ll go to classes with you!”

What? That was not what he had said! Did he say the wrong words?

“Ah, don’t worry Shin-chan! It’s just that I can read the real words behind your tsundereness! Just kidding! Oh, that looks good!” The blush was still there even as Takao bent to steal one of his sausages.

“B-bakao! Go eat your own-nanodayo!”

“Just kidding, Shin-chan!” Takao chuckled, back to old self. “Okay. See you in a bit.” And trotted back to his own table.

Shintarō sighed. That had been awkward.

As he returned to his eggs shrill cries called his attention as the mail arrived in the form of an owl storm. Most students simply lifted their arms to receive packages and letters as their owls passed midflight.

Two owls stopped before him. One was from Oha Asa and the other was his mothers. Out of respect, first he took his mother’s delicate envelope from the tiny owl and sent her back. It was just a small letter asking about his first night and about his House and the usual things. He would make sure to write her back later.

Then he paid five Knut for the daily Oha Asa lucky item for Cancer and the other bird also left. He took a second to examine the dried lizard before swallowing the rest of his breakfast and picking up his things for class.

x

They had caught up with Takao-kun and Midorima-kun a few hallways before the classroom. It was quite a feat considering that Kagami-kun had decided to ingest half of their table. He watched the redhead happily rub his puffed stomach.

“Dude! That hit the spot!”

Kuroko just shook his head at his attitude and greeted the green haired boy that was trying to get his lucky item back from a grinning Takao. The other acknowledged him but quickly turned his attention to the thief.

Their group stopped near the other first students that were waiting for their first class and Kuroko took a moment to appreciate the calm and watch the other people. Until the calm disappeared under the form of one Akashi Seijūrō.

“Tetsuya. Shintarō. How nice to see the two of you here.” The other redhead was smiling and his hands were hiding behind his back which was enough indication that they were in big trouble.

“Akashi-san. Everyone. Nice to see you as well.” Kuroko was going to ask about his night or the House but it was most likely that it would just anger Akashi as he was supposed to have been part of that.

“Akashi. Good morning.” Midorima lightly greeted.

Kise, Momoi, Murasakibara and Aomine, who had an arm around a shaking Sakurai’s shoulders, were trailing a little bit behind as they watched the exchange.

“Oh, so you do remember us… I wondered if something had happened to your head. If you had amnesia or something. But you appear fine.” Slowly his smile started to disappear and Kuroko actually felt a bit scared.

“Of course not, Akashi. It’s just that the Sorting was very overwhelming-nanodayo.” Wrong words Midorima-kun.

Seijūrō’s eyes were ice cold now. “Oh… And do you like your House, Shin.Ta.R?” Even the guys on the back gulped as he walked closer to the horoscope maniac.

He actually felt very sorry for the other boy but he was at a loss of what to do. He watched from the corner of his eye, poor Midorima slightly trying to hide behind Takao as if the half inch of difference could make a difference. Akashi’s hand had moved to the pocket of his cloak, possibly hovering over his wand.

“Of course he likes his House! Shin-chan is very clever so he’ll do well in Ravenclaw! Don’t you think?” It was Takao who stepped up and faced the approaching boy.

They stood a couple of paces from each other. Takao was smiling brightly as if nothing was amiss but Kuroko couldn’t help feel that his smile was just as dangerous as Akashi’s had been.

“Oi! You shouldn’t talk to people like that. It makes it look like you’re threatening them.” Kagami-kun also stepped up and now they both faced Akashi without fear.

Kuroko could feel his heart beating erratically. They were going to anger Akashi beyond repair and everything would be lost. On the other hand, he was not sure if there was an alternative now. If Akashi did not listen to him then his plan would go down the drain.

“You’re irrelevant. Please leave. This is a private conversation.” The dual eyed boy’s face was stone cold and he looked his most menacing. Any sane person would’ve fled quickly, but Kagami and Takao were not ordinary people, were they?

“The hell! You looking for a fight punk?” Kagami looked downright ready to punch the other in the face, which was hilarious because he seemed to forget he was a wizard, and most importantly, Akashi was one as well.

Everyone looked shocked, as they had never seen anyone face Akashi like that, and Aomine looked quite amused, but the most shocked person was Akashi himself. Although it only lasted a second Kuroko saw it clearly in face, from his standing point.

And Takao-kun was actually laughing. “Easy Kagami! Ahahah! It’s not like he’ll do anything. If he starts a fight he could be expelled or worse. Now he’s just all talk.” Takao’s smile grew and Akashi looked quite livid. “Ne, A.Ka.Shi.Kun?”

It took less than a second and now Kuroko was conscious that he whole hallway was looking at them. Everyone was holding their breath and no one made a sound. Even Kagami seemed at loss.

Akashi had drawn his wand. On Takao-kun. The few paces that separated them had been closed by Akashi’s arm and wand as it now hovered a millimeter away from the other boy’s forehead.

   The raven haired boy’s face was serious now but strangely enough, slowly a small smirk made his way up instead. And, in a whole other wave of weird, the same was happening to Akashi. “Not bad.” The redhead said. _What!?_

Midorima was wide eyed, looking from a boy to another, on the verge of a panic attack.

“Oi… What is going on here? Are you two fighting?”

Tetsuya breathed a sigh of relief as an older Slytherin student approached them. Apparently, some year above them had to take this corridor for their own classes.

“Of course not Imayoshi-san. We were just…”

“Studying wandlore. Akashi-san was kind enough to show me his wand.” Takao finished for him.

The Imayoshi guy looked highly amused by the situation and Tetsuya could only imagine the show they were putting right now. “Oooohhhh… how nice. Then… why is your wand on his head, Akashi?”

The younger boy smiled sweetly and softly combed aside some hair from the other’s forehead. “There was some hair in his face. I wanted him to be able to appreciate it fully.” The boy’s face was the picture of innocence, but the wand remained where it was.

“Yes, senpai! It’s such a sight… I couldn’t help myself! Elder…” Takao’s face now was looking quite dreamy. “You don’t see Elder wands everyday…” And as if his words hadn’t shocked them enough already, the raven suddenly slumped forward and pressed all his weight on the want pointed at him.

Kuroko had to give Akashi credit for standing his ground; especially considering that he didn’t knew that Takao really was capable of wandlore studies. As it was, everybody simply stood still as the wand made a very slight arch under the weight. Happy with his result, the raven returned to a normal upright position, a small depression where he had made contact.

“Slightly yielding… nine and three quarter inches, Elder and phoenix feather core. Wandlore tells me that Akashi-san here, will be very interesting to watch in the future.”

They kept a steady staring contest for another minute but Akashi dropped his wand in the end, regarding the other curiously. “Don’t you have a class to go to, Imayoshi-senpai?” He asked.

“Eheh… Sure, sure… be more careful with your “wandlore studies” next time. The teachers would probably notice your wand under the cloak.” Imayoshi pointed in Takao’s direction but walked away anyways, quietly chuckling to himself.

Tetsuya was surprised that he hadn’t noticed Takao’s wand, drawn on Akashi, hidden within his sleeve. So that was what Akashi had praised earlier.

“Nonsense! I was just going to show him mine afterwards. Ne, Akashi… do you w-ugh…” Takao was trying to goat the other again but Midorima was faster and quickly covered his mouth before he could blow it.

“Bakao! I think that’s enough-nanodayo!”

“But, Shin-chan! I didn’t do anything!” He pouted.

“Just be quiet-nanodayo. Here. Play with my lizard and don’t open your mouth!”

“Stingy! I’m going to eat it.”

“Don’t you dare, Bakao!”

The sudden change of pace was quite anti-climactic but even the scary redhead was watching the bickering two with a small drop of interest. Chance!

“Akashi-kun.” Getting one-self within the boy’s wand range was stupid or brave or stupidly brave, but Tetsuya had to take this chance. The other faced him fully, watching him with a frown. “I sincerely hope you forgive Midorima-kun and me, for the sudden excitement Hogwarts left us in. We are only kids after all. And I think this is a perfect opportunity to tackle down some ancient prejudices. Because _we are such good friends_ that even being in rival Houses won’t change that, right? Let’s keep on being good friends.” He grasped Akashi’s hand - the one that wasn’t holding a dangerous wand, mind you - and quietly pleaded the other with his best puppy eyes. This was it! If Akashi refused this then everything would be lost.

There was a single shadow of hurt and insecurity in the other’s eyes before it disappeared and was replaced by something Kuroko couldn’t identify. But thankfully his expression softened and he squeezed his hand back. “Yes… let’s be good friends forever.”

There was a general drop in the hard air around them and an almost synchronized sight of relief was shared among the Miracles. Good. Easy part done. Now for the really hard part.

“I’m very glad that you think so, Akashi-kun. Then let’s all become good friends. Since I am now friends with Kagami-kun, I would be very happy if you could hang along. I’m sure that Midorima-kun feels the same about Takao-kun but I won’t speak for him.” The dice were cast.

He had expected Akashi to be shocked or possibly angry; what he didn’t expect, but he should have, was for Kagami to blow it.

“Hold on a moment! You can’t decide without me! I don’t want to befriend such a rude guy! And have you seen his hair? What in the actual fudge!” Mind you, he did not say “fudge” but a similar sounding, much more American word. Oh Kagami-kun…

“I want to eat some chocolate fudge…” Murasakibara did say fudge though.

“Ahahah! Are you serious?” Kagami’s outburst brought unbelievable chaos as the anxious air was swiped away. Aomine left Sakurai’s side and shaking with laughter he approached the fuming redhead. “Of all things you decide to call on his hair? Have you seen yourself in the mirror?”

“What are you saying damn ganguro? Wanna fight?!” Kagami was starting to look wild.

But Aomine Daiki wasn't known for backing away from things. “Eh! Who are you calling ganguro!? Bring it on! There isn’t anyone in this world stronger than me!” And with that they were on each other’s face, hands grabbing collars and stupid insults being thrown around. Thankfully, Aomine-kun also seemed to forget he owned a wand.

“Testsuya… did you just found another Daiki?” Akashi seemed to be over any anger that may have need in his hearth, and like him, simply watched the fight with disapproval.

Such a realization was shocking. “Flaming Gremlins on Merlin’s Underpants! I think I did. There must be something wrong with my friend radar.”

“Oi! What’s going on now? There’s no wandlore study happening in there! Just kidding.”  Takao finally seemed to jump from whatever he had been arguing with the green haired boy. His remark, though, earned him a well-deserved chop on his head. “Ow! Shin-chan! So mean. Enough with the tsun!”

“Ne, Midorin, why does that boy call you ‘Shin-chan’? That’s so cute!” Momoi, fear now forgotten, happily strode over to her friend.

“It’s not fair, Midorimachi! You always complain about us, but you let him call you a cute nickname, just fine-ssu!” Kise cried from behind her.

“Mido-chin… likes him more than us…” Murasakibara guessed over three pocky sticks in his mouth.

“No! None of you can call me by nicknames! The four of you stop! Go die-nanodayo! Especially you, Kise!” Shintarō quickly denied, his face beet red.

“Shin-chan is so shy!” Takao slung his arm around the other’s, clearly enjoying his new color.

“Bakao!” The other cried, aggravated, but suddenly turned to the wandlore expert. “Takao, you’re forbidden to talk to them. No… I don’t care about Momoi or Murasakibara! Just don’t talk to Kise!” He pleaded.

“Shin-chan, so mean!”

“Midorimachi, so mean-ssu!”

The two chorused and quickly turned to each other. There was a moment of silence before excitement and mischievousness sparkled.

“Ne, Takaochi… let’s be best friends-ssu!”

“Yes, best buddies forever!”

And together they joined hands and danced happily in a silly disgusting matter, leaving poor Midorima-kun, kneeling on the floor, with a dark aura around him, mumbling about sparkly people and the essence of nightmares. Weird.

Overall, the noise level around them was quite high so poor Furihata-kun had to raise his voice to make them all pay attention. “Excuse me!!!” More than the volume, it was the boldness to yell near Akashi that had them stop in their tracks. Akashi’s scary face also had Furihata-kun stop in his tracks. “I-i… uh… it’s… ah…” The brunette started shaking so much in his own skin, as the red head laid eyes on him, that it was impossible to understand what he was trying to say.

“I’m sorry!” Sakurai suddenly yelled as well. “I also heard the bell, but I couldn’t get anyone’s attention. I’m sorry for being useless! I’m sorry for being born!” His chant was quickly ignored and became background noise to the Slytherins that by now had realized it was impossible to make him stop.

Akashi regarded the first brunette again. “Is that what you wanted to say?”

Furi gulped twice, trembled some more but finally nodded. “Yes… yes, bell! Class, now!” He pointed the classroom door where the last students, aside from them, were seen disappearing into.

“I see.” The red head nodded but quickly ignored the other. He turned to the rest of the group instead. “Stop the nonsense! This is our first class in Hogwarts. Let’s be dignified and take all we can from this experience. Our future starts now.” And with that quick speech, Akashi regained all his leadership of the group. Even Kagami and Aomine separated without question, but still threw each other dirty looks as they walked. With confident strides he guided the other ten students through the door. Everyone seemed to fall back into his pace naturally. Akashi was meant to lead after all. Kuroko could only hope for things not to go back to what they were originally. At least now they had new faces in the group. Kagami and Takao were good additions that didn’t seem to fear the redhead even if they couldn’t help letting him lead. Sakurai… well that was not his doing so he couldn’t say what would come out of it. And Furihata-kun? That was an unexpected addition.

Kuroko swiftly approached Furihata from the side. The brunette wasn’t shaking anymore and now watched the redhead up front with awe. Interesting. “You did good Furihata-kun. Akashi-san was happy.” He was. It was hard to understand at first but over time, just like himself or Midorima, people eventually learned to understand their moods.

The other jumped away. “Kuroko! Don’t-don’t show up like that! My heart is going to explode!”

The bluenet grimaced at that. Ah, back to being ignored.

Sighing, he took a seat next to Kagami among the several desks in the room. Maybe there had been a time before, when fifty or more students had been on the room, learning; but now, their small number barely managed to fill two rows of chairs.

He was sure that after all that drama in the hallway, the class wouldn’t be able to hold his attention as much. Unfortunately… he was wrong.   

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N.: Okay, I give up. All chapters in this fic are long! So give me some time to write them.  
> I literally sacrificed my study time to write this to you and I hope it’s good, because I’m not going to go back another time to check.  
> I really wish you would PM me with ideas. I just want to write a better fic. Hopefully this chapter will inspire you.  
> Akashi Seijūrō’s wandlore – Wand: Elder, nine and three quarter inches, slightly yielding and phoenix feather core. Deeply unlucky, elder wands are trickier to master than any other. Produce powerful magic, but scorn to remain with any owner who is not the superior of his or her company. The truth is that only a highly unusual person will find their perfect match in elder; it is certain that person is marked out for a special destiny. The owners of elder wands almost always feel a powerful affinity with those chosen by rowan. (Guess who has a Rowan wand…)  
> I think I’ll be adding the senpai’s wandlore down here as a gift since Takao won’t be making a reading in quite some time after this. One per chapter? Okay! Next chapter I’ll bring you Kiyoshi’s wandlore! Look forward to it!


	5. Professor Looney

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU. What if the KnB cast had been born in the Harry Potter world? This is how I imagine it. Cute GoM shota and lots of magic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N.: Here it is people! Another KnH chapter. This one has the first classes. Introducing a new teacher that everyone is going to “love”. Sorry if any “America” reference may offend you. To tell the truth I’ve never been to the USA nor I know how it is; I just mixed in things from my own country, so this is actually more related to me. But since Kagami lived in America and not where I live, this is what turned up.   
> I had a lot of trouble with this chapter. I modified it lots and lots of times before I finally posted this because it just wasn’t going where I wanted it to.
> 
> I would like to warn, if you haven’t seen the new warning I put up in the resume, this story will have future BL/yaoi action. But it will be so far into the future that I think even non yaoi fans can appreciate it for the time being. This fic is going to be long and long, because it will contain all seven years after all. I first was going to write one fic per year, which was why it didn’t have a warning in the beginning. 
> 
> Thank you very much The Almighty Pyro, fflover80 and MarzBunni for reviewing the last chapter. I hope you’re doing okay after all this time.
> 
> Guys! I’m about to beat my previous records. This fic now has 36 favorites and 53 alerts! This is great. Thank you all very much for your support!
> 
> I was going to make this fic just from Kagami, Kuroko, Takao and Midorima’s POV but since I’m lacking inspiration and it was limitative… Once in a while I’ll make a small mini adventure for other characters. Today, enjoy my first try on Aomine.  
> Also, I added a new fandom to this. See if you recognize it. If you do, you’re awesome!

If you think it’s impossible to hate a teacher from the second he or she walks in, then guess again. And is also possible to have that same teacher hate you for the rest of your life. This was how it went…

They had only been waiting for one or two minutes when the teacher strolled inside after banging the door.

“Silence!”

Any excited murmur, provoked by their first ever magical class, that may have existed before was ultimately gone. The woman in the purple gown swept her snake eyes through the few students sitting on the desks, and with a disgusted sneer she turned to the board aggressively writing.

“Lunei Perversa! With a **U**! If I ever catch any of you – and I mean any! – calling me “Professor Loony”, again!, I’ll personally hunt you down and make sure you lose the cognitive ability to do so!” That was when Kagami started to feel that this class wasn’t going to be pleasant.   

She finished her tirade bending over her desk, her inappropriately big cleavage showing this world and the next, and her skinny finger pointing at the students. Everyone kept as quiet as possible, afraid to screw up right on the first day. But Taiga already hated the woman. He had a feeling he knew the type of teacher she was. He had had his share of them in America. Teachers that didn’t like children. Teachers that picked on the slightest of things, mostly on the student that stood out the most. More often than not, him.

He watched as she roamed through the mess of papers on her desk and turn to them with a new sickly smile and a slight wobble on her steps as she walked to the front of the class.

“You know… I hate children.” Just like he thought. “I could be doing important stuff right now… But no… I’m stuck teaching Transfiguration to you snotty children. The Ministry doesn’t pay me enough for this, that’s for sure!” Ah, government teacher. Even better! Hate for children and no teaching vocation. Rock on! And that spiky dark hair that looked like a giant sea urchin? She had weird fashion tastes too... “But you know what I hate more than ugly ignorant children? Ugly ignorant children that think they are better than adults! And look what I got this year! A whole classroom of those! The Generation of Miracles… They think they’re something…” She was looking at them, as if trying to discover who they were, with clear despise, while rocking a bit, back and forward. The notion was starting to make him feel nauseous. “Role call! Pray that I had never heard your name before! Because if I did… you’re already in my black list.” She sung cheerfully.

Okay… Weird fashion, inappropriate behaviors and thoughts… Oh, no. “Professor Loony”, now sounded a bit reasonable. There had to be a reason people called her that! She was nuts! Hate for children, no teaching vocation and coo coo bananas! What was the Ministry thinking sending her to teach students? Could they not know? Because really… the woman looked like a walking sea urchin snake thing and… was that a bi-forked tongue? No, just his imagination, thank God! But seriously, she looked more likely to bite them than teach them anything!

“… Let’s see… Akashi… Akashi… Of course, Akashi Seijūrō! Great start! You wish! Akashi-kun here seems to be used to be important, but that’s not happening in my classroom! No… instead I think I’ll start from the end!”

At least it was somewhat funny to see that guy get belittled by her. But that didn’t last long. All that rocking really wasn’t agreeing with Taiga’s stomach. And as he fought to hide a series of weird bodily noises - something Kuroko, which was sitting by his side, seemed to pick up on nevertheless - Professor Loony began harassing Tanaka-san.

“Your uncle was so clever, honey! He thought he could buy the Council’s vote with money from the _Aedituo_. I bet they’re still going after your family now. Messing with such a dangerous filthy organization… Don’t you think?” She walked around with petulance that only aggravated when she failed to get an answer from the little girl. They looked at each other for a long time, Tanaka-san barely batting an eye, probably far too used to the theme, before the sea urchin gave up. “I guess intelligence runs in the family.”

The woman was really stupid. If she noticed that she was wearing Ravenclaw’s colors she probably wouldn’t say that. Or maybe she would…

“Kagami-kun, is your stomach okay?” Kuroko discreetly nudged him on side. “You’re making a funny face.”

“I’m fine… Just sick of this…” He tried to reassure his friend, not really having the guts to tell him it was actually growing worse. That was not good.

“Next… Takao… Oh, wonderful! I wondered!” Professor Loony seemed to get another type of energy now as she almost ran to the other side of the classroom, this time to where Takao and Midorima were sitting. “I wondered what type of conceited child you were. Since for the first time since… oh, forever actually, Ollivander agreed to have a child other than his own, as an apprentice! The gossip magazines went nuts for weeks, especially when they discovered the child in question was a Muggles’ child.”

That was something! Unfortunately for the raven haired boy, that new information seemed to call for the attention of the whole classroom, and the guy looked like he wanted the earth to swallow him.

“Yeah… And you were just seven years old at the time? How special you are! Your uncle brought you shopping and you ran off, ending up on Ollivander’s where he discovered that you were the most talented young wandmaster of history! How romantic! But wait… Shouldn’t your uncle get arrested for bringing a non-magical child to Diagon Alley? Well, well, well…” She chuckled as if the prospect of sending someone to jail was of great pleasure to her.

“Technically if Takao received a letter, then…” Midorima begun, trying to defend the other.

“Silence! I wasn’t talking to you! What’s your name?”

“… Midorima.”

“Midorima… Oh, I see… Just because you are part of the Generation of Miracles, doesn’t mean you can speak out of turn! There is no place for healing spells in my class! What is your House? I don’t care! Less 20 points to your House whatever it may be! Now, who’s next? Sakurai? Never heard of. Next!”

And she continued to read her list stopping every time she recognized a name to harass some more. Kagami was now in a lot of pain. There was only one thing he could think that could be the cause. He was probably intolerant to this woman! Just like people are, sometimes, lactose intolerant.

“Kagami-kun… You don’t look so good.” Kuroko pried some more, as on the other side of classroom, Loony was reducing a girl with pink hair to tears. He really couldn’t answer him on fear that all his stomach contents would fly out, so he decided on a vague grunt. Hopefully that would get the message out. And anyways, the woman was going to reach their names soon. “Maybe breakfast is rebelling against you.”

Breakfast? Nonsense! Breakfast had been divine! There was nothing in there that could hurt his stomach. The pancakes, the scrambled eggs, the bacon, the sausages and the rolls where so good he had at least five servings of those. There was nothing wrong with them. Maybe the porridge he had next? No way! It was so good! Besides he only had three servings of it. The little kippers? Nah… He didn’t eat more than seven. And he still had three more in his pocket for later! Maybe it was all that juice. It was unwise to drink orange and pumpkin juice together right? But they were both orange in color so mixing them shouldn’t be bad…

Oh… the chocolate frog? Okay… that was plausible. You shouldn’t eat chocolate for breakfast. But Alex had sent it with her letter that morning. It looked so yummy!

Still… He looked up, as the purple sea urchin woman also tried to harass Kuroko, taking at least two minutes to find him. His stomach complained a little bit more loudly than before. No. The frog was not at fault. He really was Loony intolerant. And no matter what, that was the truth!

“… and remember that I don’t want invisibility spells on my class! Now… Ah! Finally!” She sounded happy as hell. “Kise Ryouta. Specializing in Transfiguration.”

The blonde guy he had never noticed on the row behind him, gulped loudly on his ear. He also looked quite sick as the woman begun her drill, seemingly more vicious than before. Taiga was starting to lose his focus on the ridiculous one sided conversation, where Professor Loony challenged her first year student to a showdown of abilities, as something painful begun to bubble in his gut.

He had a bad feeling about it and sure enough, as soon as the teacher bent, on his side, to pester the blonde behind him, he let a huge burp out. Right in her face.  

…

Everything stopped. No one dared to breathe, no one dared to move.

Professor Loony slowly turned to look him in the eye. She.was.livid.

“… just now… what was that?” Each word was punctuated with a sharp breathe intake and a couple of eye twitches.

“… I’m sorry… I don’t feel so good… My stomach…” Taiga tried to excuse himself. She was never going to forget him now, was she…?

“Oh, no… And what might be wrong with stupid, idiotic, little stomach of yours?” The redhead’s space was slowly but viciously cut short as a very crazy, now baby talking, sea urchin started to lean into his desk.

“I just… I think I’m intolerant to-ugh… huh… I mean...” Thankfully, Kuroko chose the perfect moment to elbow him on the side. Yeah… it probably wouldn’t be very smart to tell her that he thought he was allergic to her presence.

Unfortunately for him, just like the blue haired boy on his side, she seemed to catch on as well. “Oh, I see! Then… there’s something in my classroom that you’re intolerant to… And what might that be?” Loony looked almost gleeful with the prospect of… well, whatever she was prospecting… “Just give me an excuse boy!” Which definitely wasn’t good for him.

“No that’s… I mean… This…” As he despairingly tried to come up with a good excuse the witch kept approaching her ugly little nose as he sunk further and further into his seat to escape her. He could hear people murmur and gasp on the background, some were praying for him and somewhere on the side, probably where Midorima was, he heard someone facepalm at his lack of discretion; he could distinctly listen somebody – it was that stupid ganguro from the hallway! – trying to hide his giggling.

On that moment, the only thing he knew was that he was indeed Loony intolerant; because as soon as he reached the end of his seat, and she reached him, his body decided to explain everything for him. Even the crazy hag had to jump back a few feet as an even bigger belch ripped through him. Okay, he was positively feeling sick now. “So… can I be excused…?”

Her eyes widened, her body stood frozen and small clouds of steam started to escape from her ears. Her face was so full of hate and rage that it was incredible that he hadn’t been fulminated on the spot yet. From her, only a low, angry hiss escaped. “… out!”

He didn’t need to be told twice.

x

Tetsuya watched as Kagami quickly picked up his things and barely made it to the door without running. In just a couple of minutes everything had turned sour. Sourer.

Professor Loony stood frozen in her spot grumbling to herself and as time went on, the students begun to regain their composure. Bit by bit, the room was filled with loud and evident murmuring, as people discussed what had just happened. The story seemed to run by the room, at least five times and every single one of them seemed to be even more fantastical than the other; of how Kagami Taiga had faced the crazy teacher and escaped without a scratch. Almost. Tetsuya wasn’t so sure that it would be forgotten so soon.

And speaking of which, Professor Lunei, finally seemed to return from her little world. She stopped her nonsensical mumbling and seemed to realize that there were still students in the room. She looked from side to side as if she had never seen them before.

“OUT!!!! All of you, out!”

And with that happy conclusion, the whole class followed after the redhead.

xxx

After all that, the day was extremely boring and dull for everybody.

Kagami would be forever regarded as a hero… Even if his act of standing up to Professor Lunei was a complete fluke. After their retreat they had spent a lovely time by the Quidditch field arguing about the teams and Aomine trying to convince him to try out for his. Kagami-kun deeply regretted losing that time, as he spent most of it in the infirmary with Midorima and Takao-kun, after the spectacles’ boy somehow discovered he was a Leo.

So Tetsuya had enjoyed some quality time with his friends, who seemed to genuinely miss him, and had let himself to be drawn back to their pace. Overall it wasn’t bad.

The trio had return just in time for them to head to class and Takao to tell them, and later re-tell and re-tell, how Kagami had been blown like a balloon and left to float the room until all the excess gas was gone.  

And thankfully their next teacher was far better than the first; almost like an opposite. Professor Goose Maria was a chubby old lady that taught Potions and was known, among the older students, as Mother Goose, for her motherly personality. Even though her first class was merely introductory it had them all very excited about the subject which was nice after their first magical introduction.

Their last class of the day was not as good though. Following lunch, that was as good as dinner and breakfast, they had History of Magic. Who ever imagined the idea for having History right after a wonderful filling lunch – even if this time, even Kagami was careful with it – was crazy or possibly a sadist. Having a ghost for a teacher should be interesting, but unfortunately for them, just like him, Professor Binns’ classes were dead. After just ten minutes, half of the class, lulled by the afternoon heat and a full stomach, was dead asleep.

It was in the middle of a strange dream where Midorima-kun was dancing around with a kilt - his lucky item - that class came to a close and a whole classroom of disoriented, half-asleep students ended their first day of classes. The boring lecture was worth the trouble just to see Murasakibara drag Akashi out of the room. Apparently not even he was immune to the lethargy.

As it was now, the light blue haired boy was sitting by the lake, enjoying the free time until dinner, with Aomine and Kise watching the two of them throw rocks at the reflecting grey water. Right after they started to split up, Kagami had left him behind, claiming he needed to track down someone from the second years. Akashi took Murasakibara with him and returned to the common room, presumably to finish his nap. Kawahara and Fukada-san had claimed Furihata’s attention as they jokingly mocked him for ending up in Gryffindor, and headed to Hufflepuff’s common to play some cards. Midorima and the rest of the Ravenclaws headed to the library to work on their homework ahead. Not surprisingly enough, Takao-kun followed after. Momoi and Sakurai wanted to go to the owl’s tower to send some letters; after being persuaded to take everyone else’s letters, they left together.

So when the sparkly blonde had attached to his arm and the dark skinned boy asked him to join them, he really had no reason to say no.

“Ah! Aominechi, that went really far-ssu!”

“You bet! Oi, Tetsu! Come here you little wimp! Gotta try this!” The boy rudely called out for him with childish joy.

Sighing, Tetsuya decided to obligate his best friend. The other handed him, probably the smallest rock in the pile, and stood back as he watched him throw it away as far as he could. Which wasn’t very far.

“Kurokochi… You’re so weak…!” Kise laughed.

“No, I’m not. Please look at these guns.” He showed him his flexed arm making the other laugh harder.

“You don’t have any!” Aomine was also laughing by his side; and after a bit, they all sat by the water once more.

The air was warm but with a bit of moist signaling the beginning of fall. As they watched the sun slowly approach the horizon, the moment was unusually quiet as even Kise seemed not to have anything to babble about as always. But eventually it was Aomine that broke the calm.

“… Tetsu… why are you friends with that angry red haired guy? He’s not very cool.”

Tetsuya took a moment to consider that. Kagami-kun was a very amusing person to be around actually. But it was also true that he had just met him. He had wanted something new… something a little bit different. But he had ended up with another Aomine Daiki. Albeit, a far less arrogant one.

“I don’t know… Kagami-kun is an interesting person.” He dismissed it as casually as possible. In this type of situation it’s always best to leave the weight of the question to the person who asked.

“We are interesting as well!” The boy vehemently exclaimed by his side as he watched him fiercely.

That made him blink a bit. Was Aomine-kun upset? “Yes. I know that…”

“Aaawww! Aominechi is jealous of Kagamichi-ssu!” The yellow little imp chuckled from Kuroko’s other side.

“Kise, you bastard! I’m not jealous of that idiot!” Aomine glared at the blonde as Kuroko tried to make himself disappear in case they started a fight.

But the peaceful air of the lazy afternoon, soon made Aomine give up and turn around in the grass to take a nap, leaving Kuroko to watch Kise manipulate a small water bubble with his wand. As he stared at the water changing shapes, they heard steps and voices approaching.

“Oh, this one’s taken. Let’s look for another spot.”

“Ah! It’s Kuroko! What’s up guys?”

The three sitting near the lake turned around, towards the voices behind them. It was Takao with Drosselmeyer-san and two other second year Gryffindors. The raven waved at them as they passed the group.

“Hello Takaochi! Where are you guys going-ssu?” Kise smiled as he got up and walked closer to them.

The two senpais started whistling, Drosselmeyer-san looked nervous and Takao smiled back. “Nowhere really…” A wonderful sign to stay away from whatever trouble they were up to.

“Oh! I want to come! Can I come-ssu?” The blonde could always recognize mischief when he smelled it.

“I don’t know…” Takao looked uncertain as he searched the rest of his group for answers.

“Maybe… Huh? Were you thinking of chucking that water ball at us?” One of the two senpais asked him, and Tetsuya noticed for the first time that the second senpai’s face was exactly like the first’s. They were twins. How unusual.

Kise chuckled and looked a little guilty but threw away the floating water bubble that he had been playing with. “… naaaahhhh… just hoping a bit.”

That made them laugh and Takao squeezed his new friend’s hand. “Then by all means, you are hereby invited to join us!”

“What! You ditching us Kise!?” Aomine got up as well, even though he had been lying down the whole time pretending to sleep.

“I think it is fine, Aomine-kun. Also, I think we do not want to have anything to do with what is going to happen.” Tetsuya was sure that there was nothing good coming out of that.

“How mean! And we are such good children!” There was no trace of good in those four mischievous smiles.

“Weren’t you on the library, Takao-kun?”

“Ah… It was boring. Shin-chan really was doing his homework!” The wandlore expert pouted cutely as he complained about it. He turned back to his friends and started to introduce them. “But then I met these guys! You remember Ahiru-chan, right Kuroko?” The raven pated the skinny girl’s shoulder making her jump startled. She fitted the least in the group and looked a bit nervous.

“She was in the library by herself… so we decided to bring this little ducky along!” Senpai number one said.

“Yup! After all… Haruhi didn’t want to play with us!” Senpai number two whined. “Why did she have to go to Ravenclaw?! She should have just come to Gryffindor with us!”

His brother hugged him playfully as he whined dramatically. “That’s right! It would be easier to play pranks on her!” They seemed to glee at the prospect of it. “I’m Hitachiin Kaoru by the way.”

“Hitachiin Hikaru. Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Kise Ryouta. Nice to meet you-ssu! I’m glad you don’t mind that I’m Slytherin!”

That brought evil smiles on to identical faces. “You know…”

“Since you’re a Slytherin…”

“Maybe you do need a little initiation…”

And it was with a little pleasure, and a worrisome feeling, that Kuroko watched the Hitachiin brothers and Takao-kun drag away a jumpy Ahiru and a less enthusiastic Kise.

xxx

He was in a bad mood. A really bad mood.

For one: it was just Tuesday and he already wanted Friday to come. Then Satsuki had been ranting on his ear that morning until he got up and that stupid pink hair ball of hers somehow ended up in his sock drawer – which was apparently his fault for some reason!; someone left some cockroach clusters near the fireplace the night before, they went bad and stunk up the whole place; and then he barely made it in time for breakfast. Now, in Charms, he was “forced” to sit next to that idiot with red hair that Kuroko liked so much! No, not Akashi! Mirror-kun or something like that. And the Charms’ teacher wasn’t interesting at all. Sure he looked like a tiny gobblin Santa and spoke like a pixie but who needed to know how to charm tea cups to dance? He didn’t even like tea!

“Oi, Aho! Stop grumbling to yourself over there! I’m trying to focus!” Kagami elbowed him for the fifth time that morning.

“Like I care! You are doing it wrong anyways.” It was just the second day of school! How could he be so in the verge of madness already?!

“Please be quiet Aomine-kun. You are disturbing me as well.” Kuroko poked his head out from the other side of the redhead that was sitting in between the two blue haired boys.

“Shut up, Tetsu! This is all your fault! If you had sat on the middle this wouldn’t happen!”

And sure enough the guy had the balls to look amused. Goddammit, Tetsu was making fun of him!

“I apologize, Aomine-kun. I was not aware that I was supposed to sit on a specific seat today.”

“You sound like Midorima. He’s so picky! Yesterday he didn’t let go! You’re being a prick today as well.” Kagami turned to him again, after exploding his third teacup. “Why does it matter where he sits?”

“’Cuz I don’t wanna sit with you!”

“What did you say!? You Ahomine!”

“Is that supposed to be my name Kakami stupid?!” They begun to raise their voices, and wands.

“My name is Kagami and yes, it was!”

“Oh, my bad. Bakagami-kun!” Aomine snorted at his quickly reddening face.

“You…!”

They were almost out of their seats when Professor Flitwick finally ran over to stop them.

“Boys! Put down those wands this instance!”

x

They ended up with not only detention but also extra homework. Great! This was all Tetsu’s fault!

It wasn’t right that was always hanging around that Bakagami! He was supposed to be his friend!

And it certainly wasn’t fair to be in this bad of a mood on the class he wanted to be in the most. Flying lessons!

Yeah, finally! He couldn’t wait to hop on a broom and start flying around!

“Good afternoon, class.” Their instructor proudly patrolled the two long lines she had them divided into, limping slightly as if the years were finally weighting on her.

“Good afternoon, Madam Hooch.” Was the overall chorus that answered her.

“Listen up! I don’t want to see broomsticks charging against each other and I don’t want to see anyone go above twelve feet! Stand on the left side of your broom with your right hand over it and say: Up! That’s it for now! Don’t do anything else! Ready? Go!”

For a while the whole field was filled with frustrated groans and “up” being yelled around. Having succeeded on his first attempt, Aomine was left with watching the other people fail utterly. 

Luck of lucks, he ended up right in front of Kagami! He too had his broom in hand. The bastard was showing him his tongue?! Of course, he, Aomine Daiki, would not lose to that!

“Aomine-kun, that’s very childish! I regret standing next to you already.”

Daiki’s tongue immediately retracted back to his mouth. Oh… Tetsuya had decided to stand with him this time. Bit still… “Tetsu… (sigh)… for the love of the Gremlin King! How could I know that you were there!?”

The other huffed at the typical situation and returned to the matter at hand. The dark haired bluenet had to restrain himself from laughing loudly as his broom stubbornly twisted and turned in the ground refusing to obey.

Eventually, everyone seemed to get it in some way and Madam Hooch moved on to teach them how to grip the broom correctly and they moved on to some simple exercises. Really easy stuff that for some reason, some people couldn’t do! And just like himself, the red head across from him seemed to be able to breeze through it, showing him a confident smirk. So they ended up silently competing against one another. If one could do one thing the other was right on it. Frustratingly enough, it all ended up in a tie.

“Aomine-kun… now you’re not paying attention to me…” Kuroko sighed on his right.

So when Madam Hooch finally told them to go through a really childish and poor obstacle course, he saw the chance to resolve their little dispute. One look was all it took for the redhead to understand. It was on.

As his turn approached, Aomine tried not to think too hard on how nice it was to have someone that wasn’t afraid of him, actually going with his ideas. Sure competing with the others was good and all, but they lacked the spark to push him back in the same sense. Kagami at least was good game. No fear of hurting him unintentionally. They weren’t friends or anything.

“Next!” The hawk woman finally called and it was his turn.

Daiki hopped into his broomstick and waited for the signal to go. He was going to get a better time in the course and Bakagami was going to cry!

Some of his confidence was lost though, when he heard the whistle and speeded up through the ugly wood conception. Hogwarts’ learning brooms were old and just barely away from falling apart. There was a horrible screech sound every time he accelerated a bit and his right turn was loose. If for some shred of luck that Bakagami got a hold of a better broom, he was screwed! But Aomine Daiki just loved a good challenge! So he sped up even more.

There were two possible approaches to the course; going up and safe or going down and fast. So naturally he went down. He was going so fast that the structure was starting to bend on his vision, and every once in a while he could feel as the wood scrapped on his skin and the gravel hit him from bellow.

The last curve was a right one and as expected he went a bit fast to control it properly. If the pain in his knuckles was any indication, he was bleeding a bit. But all was good and no one seemed to notice it as he landed back near the others.

“Well, well… 42.3 seconds. Above average.” The instructor sized him up with a cold stare. “Are you thinking of joining your House’s team?”

“Yes I am.” He didn’t like the way she was looking at him.

“… Beware of all that testosterone. I don’t want reckless flyers going around. And go treat that hand!”

Huffing, he quickly escaped to the back of the group. What the hell!?

“Aomine-kun, you should be more careful.” Tetsu teleported by his side as usual, wearing a disapproving frown.

He really didn’t feel like talking to him right now. Kagami wasn’t around; he was probably waiting his turn up in the front.

So he just went to sit by a very tired Midorima. Apparently the dark haired Kise that seemed to have taken a liking to follow the green haired mug around was entertaining the crowd by flying near the ground. Upside down.

As he felt the guy on his side pick up his bloody hand and start some sort of healing spell, Kuroko, still frowning, returned with a sulking Kagami. And the result was obvious.

“So?”

It was Tetsu who answered as Kagami seemed to be pouting. “46.5 seconds. Seriously… you two have to be careful you could’ve gotten hurt!”

But he really didn’t care about it. He just showed the redhead a smug smile and the other growled like an animal.

“I’ll beat you up next time!”

He was about to give him an answer to that when Madam Hooch called them again.

“Gather round! Quickly!” When everyone was surrounding her and she made sure that every soul was staring at her, the hawk lady continued. “This is it for today. Good job. Don’t forget to store the brooms in the right place, but before you go… I want to remind you of something. This year, first years will be allowed on teams. I do not agree with this!” Her voice was clear and upset, her eyes surveying the multiple confused faces of her students. “But that is not my decision anymore.” She shook her head sadly before continuing with new vigor. “But regardless of your position on the team, I still have a say on it. I don’t care if you are chosen to participate. I don’t care if you practice with the team. No first year student can play in an official game without my consent! I will not have reckless flyers on my games!” Her fierce stare stopped all the protests that were about to surge and she pointedly looked at him as she talked. “So… Feel free to go to the tryouts next week but as soon as you want to participate in a game you will come to me, schedule a day and take a hellish test that I swear if you make the tiniest of mistakes will fail you. You can take as many repeats as you want. And I assure you there will be many! Even after that it is still mandatory to come to my lessons. Any misconduct, inside or outside the class will lead to the removal of your approval mark and you’ll be required to take a new test. Now go! It’s lunch time.” And with a final look at him and Kagami, she left to put away the brooms. Man that was a drag! 

“She had her eye on the two of you. Especially after your little stunt.” Akashi was walking behind him and if the goosebumps were anything to go by, he was also scowling disapprovingly. “She will surely make things difficult for the two of you. More than the rest of us.”

No wanting to be killed he discreetly nodded back. Not really in the mood for talking about it but his survival instinct was strong. That was sort of a letdown. He really wanted to play Quidditch.

A quiet bumping on his arm called his attention and he was surprised to see Kagami looking at him. He too didn’t say anything but the look in his eyes was clear to him. It was on!

And in a better mood, Aomine started thinking about ways to get Madam Hooch’s consent before Kagami did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N.: Okay that was hard. It really didn’t want to get out! Okay so hopefully the plot will start moving a little faster after this!   
> As I promised here is Kiyoshi’s wandlore:  
> Kiyoshi Teppei - 2nd year, Gryffindor. Wand: Apple wood, thirteen inches, pliant and dragon heartstring core. Apple-wood wands are not made in great numbers. They are powerful and best suited to an owner of high aims and ideals, as this wood mixes poorly with Dark Arts. It is said that the possessor of an apple wand will be well-loved and long-lived, an assertion supported by the fact that Garrick Ollivander often met customers of great personal charm to find their perfect match in an applewood wand.
> 
> What do you think? I really think it suits him as there is no one as good as Teppei in the series. He just can’t be evil and everyone likes him. And I’m not sure but doesn’t his name also mean something like longevity? I had that impression.   
> Anways I hope you enjoyed it. Look forward to more!


	6. Tryouts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU. What if the KnB cast had been born in the Harry Potter world? This is how I imagine it. Cute GoM shota and lots of magic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N.: I so sorry for leaving this fic for so long, but it was exam season here and I had to do my best so my time and energy were… well, I think you get it :P But it paid off :) My best semester ever. I was so happy. So now, I’ll do my best for you guys as well!  
> Thank you everyone that is following and that favorite this fic. Made me cringe every time I saw an alert on my mail telling me about you. Reminded me every time that I still owned you all a chapter :P  
> Special thanks to BreeBBreakDance and Shirou the space penguin for reviewing the last chapter.  
> I’ve re-posted the last chapters because I noticed some mistakes. It’s fixed now :)  
> Also……………………… Happy Birthday Midorima-kun!

It was a lazy Saturday when Shintarō rose up.

The sun was warm in the sky, just barely peeping above the school walls and it was a good day for Cancers. That was the most important part after all.

It was now two weeks after the beginning of the school term and things were going well. Far better than he had anticipated at least.

Akashi was being strangely understanding lately and while it wasn’t unwelcome, it was definitely odd. His House companions where finally starting to get used to his presence and stopped staring at him and trying to make conversations after the first week. And he was enjoying his classes of course. Some of them…

Transfiguration was a mess; filled with disconnected lessons, sudden jumps in the book and sometimes only hours of Professor Loony talking to herself or trying to degrade them.

History of Magic was boring and made falling asleep very easy. It was an embarrassment to him but since he could cram as much as he liked after school hours, and thankfully they were full of free time for studying after classes, he already had the whole book memorized. He should get started on the second year’s book but he was feeling a bit lazy today. Perhaps he could indulge in some light reading in the library today and enjoy the calm.

Oh, and Defense Against the Dark Arts… The Auror that had taken his time to come and teach them, over the risk of being incapacitated or dying by the end of the school year, seemed utterly incapable of teaching. His lectures were rushed, he didn’t like questions and simply looked terrified of children, if running away from the class as soon as the bell rang was any indication.

But it was still a good day so Shintarō was still in a good mood when he reached the common room. Of course it was already silent in there, respecting the many students taking the chance of weekend hours to study more or read something if they were just trying to pass time or have fun.

Most of them didn’t pay attention to him, preferring to keep their noses in between pages, thankfully, for he did not wish to start conversation.

“Good morning, Midorima-kun.” Fujioka-san greeted him as he passed her chair. By her side, Tanaka-san nodded, acknowledging his presence in a greeting, but true to herself, not a sound escaped her lips. She quickly returned her attention to the book resting in between the two girls.

“Good morning, Fujioka-senpai, Tanaka-san. I hope your reading is going well.” Those two were probably the least annoying people in the tower and he often preferred their silent company to other people’s silent company.

“Very well, thank you. Are you going to the tryouts tomorrow? Kuromi was thinking of going.” Fujioka Haruhi continued. While he didn’t particularly wish to talk, Fujioka-san was an older senpai and deserved his respect. Also, she just seemed to want someone to look out for the other girl.

“That’s a surprise. But I’m still uncertain about it-nanodayo.” The tryouts. He had been quite pestered all week by certain dark haired Gryffindor about it. He really didn’t get why; while the game’s theory was fairly easy, the actual game play was rough and brutal. Shintarō had no particular flying skills like Aomine or Kagami, so there was no high chance of getting a place in the team, even as an extra. But Takao seemed very adamant about it and claimed to want to play against him. Nonsense! They could far more easily play an unofficial game as friends. Not that they were friends! Takao was more like… a very annoying and sticky servant.

“Oi! There’s a Gryffindor by the door, trying to convince the gargoyle to let him in…” Mayuzumi-san walked inside, probably having gone to get breakfast earlier on. The older student barely looked at them before disappearing behind Ravenclaw’s statue.

Fujioka passed her fingers through her short brunet hair, sighing, and begun to get up. She often had one or two Gryffindor visitors that seemed very annoying. Sometimes they would manage to answer the riddle, but when they couldn’t, they would just make noise in the corridor and bother everyone if no one let them in quickly enough.

“Don’t bother getting up Fujioka. It’s not your usual idiots.” Kasamatsu also walked in, but at least seemed to consider them instead of acting like they were stone. “It’s a cheeky first year. Dark hair and stupid grin… was trying to tell the eagle a joke…” The third year threw the new info in the air, hoping for a reaction from the people in the room. No one seemed interested in lifting their noses from the paper though.

On the other hand, Shintarō now had a bad feeling about this visit. “… I think I can escort them out-nanodayo.”

The other merely lifted his brow in curiosity but left soon with a quick “Please do.” And silence quickly returned.

With a polite wave he parted ways with the two girls and climbed down the stairs until he reached the eagle statue. And sure enough, Takao was there, the happiest grin on his face, still trying his luck with lame jokes on the gargoyle.

“Shin-chan!!! Good morning~~~~!”

“Bakao, why are you here so early?” He scowled as he started to move in the direction of the dining hall; time to get his own breakfast.

“I didn’t want to risk Shin-chan getting away! I really want Shin-chan supporting me today!” The other quickly caught up with him and the two climbed down a couple of the 142 different stairs in the castle.

“I don’t know what you’re saying, Takao. Speak properly-nanodayo!”

The other pouted and nudged him on the side. “That’s mean, Shin-chan! It’s the tryouts, the tryouts!”

Takao pulled his sleeve with enthusiasm nearly making them fall down the numerous stair steps.

“Idiot! Be more careful! And what do you mean ‘the tryouts’? That’s tomorrow. This is why you’re no good-nanodayo!” That and all this talk about the tryouts was starting to get on his nerves.

“Shin-chan!!!! That’s yours, mine is today!” The raven haired boy whined but his smile turned mischievous. “I really want Shin-chan on those benches, cheering for me like a cute cheerleader! Just kidding!”

“… Bakao…” He wasn’t sure what face he had on, but certainly wasn’t good because the brunet nearly toppled over in laughter. Then suddenly he stopped and looked at him seriously. Such a change made him stop in confusion.

“Ne… What goes round the house and in the house but never touches the house?”

“What…?”

“That funny eagle thing asked me that. I tried to pay a riddle with a joke but she wouldn’t let me in! So I was curious…”

“… idiot…”

x

Had he upset Shin-chan?

He noticed after a bit of silence that the other was keeping to himself, and on closer inspection, was supporting a serious scowl.

 It was with a heavy hearth that they parted ways on the grand hall; worryingly watching the other sit down at his own table, Kazunari sadly nibbled on his toast.

“What’s wrong, man? Worried about later?” A redhead smirking second year suddenly perched on his shoulder.

“Sup… eh… Kaoru?” It was really hard to tell the two twins apart, but it was more usual to catch Kaoru alone than Hikaru so he was betting on that.

The other chuckled and stole the rest of his toast before some of his tarts ended up in his pockets. “Lucky guess?”

“Sort of… Hikaru isn’t coming for breakfast?” He was feeling slightly better now, even if his food was being stolen. He had almost forgotten…

“No time! Anyways, put on a good show! There will be lots of people watching. Better keep them occupied and happily distracted.” The other wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and he couldn’t help laugh at that.

“Sure, sure! Just sad that “it” won’t be ready for a while.”

“But it will be worth it! See ya later! Good luck!” And with that he was gone.

The small encounter left him in a better mood and even the howl mail couldn’t wipe it away. Before getting up, he quickly pocketed his uncle’s letter and the attached one that was from his mother; addressed to some weird, probably made up school address, that she was convinced he was currently frequenting. It was hard to swallow that his own mother reacted so badly to the mention of magic that she had to be charmed with memory spells and whatnots!

x

“The sun! The answer is ‘the sun’.”

Blinking in confusion, he studied his green haired friend as they begun approaching the large Quidditch field. “…the answer?”

The other sighed and sent him a very unimpressed glare as if he was supposed to understand in the spot what had been on his head. “To the riddle, Takao. Didn’t you ask me for the answer to the gargoyle’s riddle a while ago?”

Enlightenment filled him. He had totally forgotten about it and moreover, he hadn’t even taken it seriously before. “Oh, right! Eh? What… Were you thinking about it all this time, Shin-chan?” So that scary scowl had been nothing more than a thinking face? Shin-chan was such a weirdo!

“Ah, I wasn’t doing it for you or anything like that! I was just… interested in the answer-nanodayo!” Midorima was blushing like a tomato now and he couldn’t help but laugh at it.

“So tsundere, Shin-chan!” Yup, he was in a much better mood now.

xxx

He was already regretting coming here.

The sun was way too hot on his back, and the benches had no shadow; there were way too many people there, cheering loudly or just paparazziing the players. And that included Aomine for some reason. Right now, Shintarō was just trying his best to make sure not to be associated with the indigo haired idiot that was cheering on Kuroko with far too much enthusiasm.

“Okay, people, two laps around the field! Hop on those brooms! Go, go, go!”

It was fun though, watching a second year girl ordering people around.

Coach Aida was a fierce woman and a very good tactician too. Before the first lap was over, more than half of the candidates were gone. It was incredible to see that there were people that could barely hold a broomstick and all the more, some that could not even fly in a straight line. The second task involved simple turns, holding balls and flying with one hand. It was not that hard, but the testing had begun less than ten minutes prior and most of the older years were gone, their skills rusted after years of not flying constantly. Because of it the first years, all four of them, were at advantage. They had done very similar goals just the day before in Madam Hooch’s class.

That said, that girl was scary. She moved like a professional coach and absolutely did not waver from the shouts or threats of angry frustrated students that were asked to leave. When she was done scrutinizing everyone and everything, there were only half a dozen possible players in field and she seemed happy enough.

They were all in the team officially now. Of course, in Quidditch there are no substitutions during a game, but having replacement players is always good. That and apparently she wanted to make game simulations or something like that. Either way, Shintarō was bored again and he was silently praying for it to be over quickly.

He was not that lucky today. There seemed to be two openings for regular players, Chasers, and there was going to be a small test for who wanted that position. He watched as the coach separated them in teams of two and organized the team for a quick game. Takao happily waved him from the group, all way into the back of it.

He sighed. Playing support group, even when he wasn’t doing anything, was tiring. Still he gave a quick wave as he watched with uninterested eyes, the development of the games.

The rules were simple; the captain, Hyuuga, and the two candidates would be team number one and team number two was composed of the rest of the team’s members, the Beaters and the Seeker. Only one Keeper, and both teams aimed for the same goals. Maximum of five goals or fifteen minutes. The point was to impress by forming strategies and creative formations, as well as keeping the “rival” team away from the ball.

The set was pretty much the same every time; as soon as the ball was in possession of the rival team it was near impossible to steal in back, a year of practice with the team had made these people almost as good if they had played the games themselves. If the ball was on team number one, they would stumble nervously around, pass to where no one was and most commonly, drop the Quaffle altogether. It was quite sad to watch. And as if the world was trying to upset him, Takao and his partner, a scared looking brunet were the very last ones in line!

Almost two hours had gone by now, and people were getting ready to leave, tired and stiff from the hard wood of the benches, hot from the sun and probably a bit hungry too. Only the first years remained on the field now, waiting to try their luck. Either it was a brilliant move from Coach Aida or simply a miscalculated one, meant to spare the audience on the idea that they were going to perform badly.

What no one expected was for the spirit of the game to change radically. First years were full and fresh from the basics of flying. And Kagami definitely had some aura around himself. The difference could be smelled from the bench he was sitting on.

He watched him hop in the broom and fly his way to the middle of the field and wait for the signal to start, little flames of excitement dancing around. The powerful effect was dulled by the usual “hunt” for a missing player, and Kuroko’s indignant pronouncement of his presence on the air, next to the redhead. After that, the game started as if nothing had happened.

As soon as the whistle blew, Kagami had the ball. The team set to steal it, but the fierce boy charged without fear and something akin to a war cry, making the second years yelp in fright and dodge him. Laughing at their reaction, just as he was approaching the goal, he passed suddenly to and empty space to his left; while everyone was still shocked and confused, Kuroko appeared out of nowhere and made a well placed pass to a stunned Captain that didn’t hesitated to score past yet another stunned Keeper. Shintarō only had a couple of seconds to admire the curve done by the red Quaffle, and note that it should have been made a little more to the right, before the shrill sound of the whistle brought everyone back to earth.

“Hyuuga! You’re not supposed to score! I told you to let them try it by themselves! And Kiyoshi! Don’t space out just because they’re first years! Defend properly!” The coach was quickly yelling and re-organizing the team looking mad, but her steps were bouncy and excited.

A couple of muffled ‘sorry’s reached the bench he was in, and as Hyuuga happened to fly by, Shintarō could have sworn that he heard him mutter:  “… but it was such a good pass!”

Well, it had been the first score since the beginning of the tests, so the audience had quickly flocked back. It hadn’t been that the players were horrible; the “rival” team had attempted to score as well. But the Keeper, Kiyoshi, was simply that good. He reminded him of Murasakibara, his limbs strangely large in proportion to the rest of his body. If Kiyoshi reached the ring, there was barely any hope to score.

Unfortunately, that was the extent of that. Sure enough, Kagami was talented and made very good plays cleverly using Kuroko’s invisibility. The audience was on the edge of their seats for the whole fifteen minutes the game lasted, but no other goal was scored. The redhead came really close to do it on the last minute, a well placed pass from Kuroko and an extremely powerful throw from his part that seemed certain to win, but the Keeper was something else. On the last second the brunet launched after the sphere making it hit the metal structure and bounce back ending their game.

The coach looked beyond herself with joy when the two first years touched the ground again.

x

He had never seen Coach Aida this happy. She usually came across as a Spartan kind of person but she had showered them in praise and started making game plans for the beginning of the League and only stopped when Tetsuya reminded her that there were still two students to evaluate. She excused herself looking flustered and begun to organize things again.

“Nice work Kuroko! We did great!” Kagami was grinning from ear to ear and looked the happiest he had ever seen him.

“Yes. I’m glad that Kagami-kun listened to my strategies.”

“Shut up!” But he lack any bite in his words and the grin remained. “Here!” The redhead offered him his fist to bump.

Happily he returned the gesture as they walked away from the field. Suddenly the sports ground was filled with shocked gasps and both turned around to watch the game that had started.

Not sure what was going on, Tetsuya searched the players for the answer. It came in the form of Takao-kun making an aggressive descend, all the players after him and the Quaffle; including his own team! Before he was grabbed, the raven turned upwards on the last second, nearly leaving two second years on the ground, and passed everyone in a parallel line and quickly made his way up. Even his own team mates seemed to have a hard time catching up. As soon as they got closer again, he did exactly the same thing over, this time turning to the ground. This repeated itself for another three times before the other players and the spectators grew accustomed to it. Even Captain Hyuuga seemed to be on the verge of cursing everything and everyone.

When it happened, Tetsuya was sure little people noticed the exchange. On the beginning of his descend, right when the players were beginning to turn around to chase him, Takao-kun passed closer to them, barely touching Furihata-kun that was last in line, and continued as if nothing had happened. None of the players noticed anything out of the ordinary, not even when the small brunet didn’t follow, and kept chase. It had all been so fast, he wasn’t sure he had seen it properly. It happened exactly when they were out the senpais’ field of vision. It lasted only a couple of seconds but it had been perfect!

It would have been fantastic, all eyes were still on Takao-kun after all; even Kiyoshi senpai. Furihata-kun had been forgotten.

“Hey! Stop! Quaffle!” Izuki-senpai suddenly left the formation causing a mass of chaos and panic, moving fast towards the brunet.

“Whoa! How did he saw him? From that position he would have been behind him!” Kagami was howling in excitement by his side. It looked like Tetsuya had not been the only one to find the tactic quite impressive.

Izuki-senpai moved with determination and gained ground easily. Furihata was doomed. Izuki-san was a master mind at stealing, even if he was just the Seeker. Then, unexpectedly, when the second year approached, he just dropped the ball. And there he was ready to receive. Takao-kun, flying just bellow them. Upside down. He really wasn’t fazed by any flying position.

And just like that he shot the Quaffle. Kuroko had never seen anyone shot a Quaffle upside down. Even less when they were bellow the rings. It was the most awkward angle possible. Predicting the direction and strength seemed impossible but by nothing short of a miracle, Kiyoshi-san managed to catch it right before it passed the ring in the left.

There was a brief moment of silence before the stadium was filled with an excited round of applause for the amazing catch. With the tension gone the second years bashfully accepted the praise before trying to regain their breaths. It was a great moment for Takao and Furihata. The senpais where clearly out of gas, having played all day in positions they were not used to, and with a little more push they could be beaten. He and Kagami-kun had delivered the first blows so now was just a matter of finishing the job.

“Eh? Takao-kun? What’s wrong, you still have ten minutes left.” Coach Aida was running towards her two first years that were now softly descending to ground level.

“… nah… that was all I had…” The raven scratched the back of neck looking sheepish as he jumped of his ride. “I don’t have any more ideas and honestly… I think Furi-chan is about to faint!”

Everyone was now approaching the two and sure enough the brunet looked ready to give up, his face paler than a sheet.

“Eh!? Furihata-kun?! Are you alright?” Coach Aida was fussing over the other boy when Takao approached them and looked at Kagami and him. “He told me it was the nerves. Not sure why… I mean, did you see him?! Perfectly followed my plan right!? He was amazing!” He looked beyond content but once or twice, Tetsuya caught him trying to take a look at his watch.

“Not sure if Furihata-kun was the one amazing today. Interesting strategy kid.” Gryffindor’s Seeker had drawn near them when it became clear the shaking brunet wasn’t going to die any time soon. “Using people’s blind angles to fight is not easy.” He carelessly placed his arm around the other raven’s shoulders and grinned amusingly at his shocked face.

“Eheh… But I couldn’t fool you senpai.” The other recovered quickly and regarded him with his own mischievous grin.

“Of course! A good player must understand the _big picture_ when it comes to the _art_ of tricking!”

“… eh?”

xxx

“Man, I could eat a warthog full! So hungry!”

“On any other day I would be impressed with Kagami-kun and his powerful stomach but even today I must agree that some food would be nice.”

Sometimes, Taiga had trouble knowing when Kuroko was making fun of him. Not only was he pretty stoic his speech was weird enough that it made hard to know sarcasm and honesty apart. This was one of those moments.

“… you… are you making fun of me?” The bluenet was probably the closest person to him right now and he didn’t like this dubious feeling. He had had enough bad experiences with the wrong type of people to be a little hurt when the other mocked him. But just a little! He was no baby!

Kuroko was quiet for a bit, silently regarding him, but eventually sighed. “No, Kagami-kun. I was just agreeing with you. The tryouts made me hungry as well.”

“Oh. Okay, that’s good. Maybe now you’ll eat more than usual! That’s definitely not enough!” Well he felt better now. The other boy could be lying but there was no reason not to believe him.

He almost missed the murmur but chance was that he did. “Being too nice to people could be your undoing, Kagami-kun.” He was about to ask him about it but the sight in front of them made him freeze altogether.

And from the look of shock on the other’s face, he wasn’t expecting to see him here either.

x

Tetsuya was used to being ignored and usually he resented that. But sometimes it was very useful. Like now.

When Kagami had stopped, he had first thought that he had offended the other somehow but soon it became evident that he wasn’t concerned with him, but another boy by the armors. A Slytherin. And second year too. Even though the boy emanated an aura of grace, his stance was guarded and spelled problems.

They kept the staring game for a while, and Kuroko wondered if he should get a teacher. Kagami-kun looked mad, like he wanted to say something but was resolute on not being the first to speak. The older boy finally broke the silence, his posture slightly more relaxed. His dark hair looked silky smooth and he had a cute beauty mark under his eye; his beauty felt somewhat dangerous and unapproachable as he regarded them.

“Taiga, what a surprise. I wasn’t expecting to see you.” His smile was charming and for a moment he could almost forget that he had regarded them - mostly the redhead surely, since he was pretty much invisible – with the distrust of an injured animal.

“Yeah… you weren’t expecting me at all. And you had no intentions of that right?” Kagami looked hurt and angry, his hands tightly closed into fists. “Well, I’m not like you! I still worried, even though you are nothing but a jerk! Did you know how many times I looked for you in the last weeks?!” The red haired boy was now walking towards the other and with each new step his voice rose higher. “Of course you do! Because somehow you made them turn me around!”

He watched the other for his reaction to his friend’s words of hurt and anger. He had never seen Kagami like this. But the other didn’t even look sorry for whatever he did to him. The only acknowledgment of guilt was the fact that he wasn’t looking him in the eye. Other than that his demeanor remained cold and indifferent as Kagami looked more and more like he was about to cry.

“... what if I did that? What about it, Taiga?” The strange beautiful boy was regarding him again, this time issuing his challenge, willing Kagami-kun to rise to his bait.

It hurt not knowing what was going on, but he really wish he knew what to say to his friend right now. The redhead looked like someone had died in front of him. He looked quite betrayed. But instead of crying like he thought he would, the calmed down. “Just… why…? Just tell me why, ni-san!”

“Ni-san” frowned at that. Clearly it wasn’t the reaction he was expecting. “Maybe I just don’t have time to play with kids. I want to be greater, Taiga! And I can’t let anything get in my way!” Tetsuya noted that his posture became gradually more and more guarded. And for the second time that day he thought that the other looked like a hurt animal. “You wouldn’t understand. I can’t let anything stop me. If that meant cutting ties with you… then I had to do it! After all you…” There something going on beyond that; that was sure, but he didn’t develop more.

Kagami was looking positively sad and defeated now. “You thought that I would stop you? That I would try to keep you from being great? Is that what you think of me?”

x

He wasn’t sure what he was expecting. He had kept thinking about several possibilities. Somehow this was a mix of all.

Didn’t Tatsuya know him at all? Did he really believe that he would prevent him from being great? He would have loved to support his brother on that quest! Of course, being a Slytherin, Tatsuya would be an ambitious person. But this didn’t make any sense!

For a moment he felt like Tatsuya was coming to that realization as well but new arrivals broke the trance they had been on.

“Yo, Himuro-kun! Who’s this? Giving you trouble?” Another older Slytherin student bluntly laced his arm around his brother’s shoulders. It didn’t look comfortable at all and there was a lot of personal space being stolen there. He was about to answer these weirdoes when Himuro did it for him.

“No one. He is no one, Hanamiya-senpai.”

He couldn’t believe it! How could he say that so coldly?!

He watched closely the five thugs that had his brother on their embrace. The arrogance and malice was pouring away and each looked worse than the next. One of the guys watched him without interest, or maybe not, but his eyes reminded him of a dead fish so it was hard to know what he was thinking. Similarly, another boy carelessly blew gum balls, but it was impossible to know what he was thinking really, since his eyes were covered by his hair.

“What are you still doing here? Get going wet kitty. We have no time for Gryffindor brats!” The guy that was still leaning on Tatsuya, wiggled his ugly eyebrows as he smiled nastily.

He really didn’t want to leave his brother alone with this guys. He was ready to say so when he caught Tatsuya’s eye. It was horrible how his brother was capable of looking at him like those idiots were.

“I think it’s time to go, Kagami-kun.”

He prayed to the Gods that he didn’t shriek loudly. He had completely forgotten that Kuroko was still here! It consoled him that the other six also seemed startled.

Morosely, he let the bluenet pull him away by his sleeve. When he realized he was taking them to the Hall, he softly mentioned him to stop. He suddenly didn’t feel like eating anymore. He turned to return to the common room leaving Kuroko behind. 

“Was that your brother, Kagami-kun?”

Or maybe he hadn’t stayed behind after all. He sighed before thinking of his answer. “He used to be.” The words hurt to say. “I think those guys changed him.”

He watched as the other remained silent and the two walked a bit further up the stairs. They were closing on the tower when Kuroko spoke again. “There are always ways to bring back those that we love. The big problem is being ready to forgive them.”

Yes, he should really try to save Himuro from those idiots. But Taiga wasn’t ready to forgive him for the hurtful words and actions, just yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .N.: Enjoy your Seeker role for now Izuki! Because my darling Takao’s Hawk eye is better than Eagle eye. My love is radical like this!   
>  So no Quidditch first views yet. Leaving than for the actual games up ahead.  
> Himuro’s character will be better developed latter; this is just a small introduction. Still on the same basis, him wanting to be better, but because of bad influences this time.   
> So who am I going to introduce today……………… Hyuuga! And because I made you wait for a bit………… I’ll had Himuro as well!  
> Hyuuga Junpei: Poplar, twelve and three quarter inches, unbending and dragon heartstring core - “If you seek integrity, search first among the poplars,” was a great maxim of Gerbold Ollivander, a saying that Garrick Ollivander supports based on his experience of poplar wands and their owners. It is said to be a wand to rely upon, of consistency, strength and uniform power, always happiest when working with a witch or wizard of clear moral vision. (integrity/honor/reliability, I thought it was very fitting of Hyuuga, the team Captain)  
> Himuro Tatsuya: Cherry, twelve inches, reasonably supple and dragon heartstring core - Cherry is very rare wand wood that makes for a wand of strange power, most highly prized by the wizarding students of the school of Mahoutokoro in Japan, where those who own cherry wands have special prestige.  
> The Western wand-purchaser should dispel from their minds any notion that the pink blossom of the living tree makes for a frivolous or merely ornamental wand, for cherry wood often makes a wand that possesses truly lethal power, whatever the core - though if paired with dragon heartstring, the wand ought never to be teamed with a wizard without exceptional self-control and strength of mind. (please note how I decided to play with Himuro. Made from the most elegant tree and it is a lethal power. Like Himuro. His grace was his power. Also, I thought that, even if he is now struggling, it was okay to give him a dragon heartstring core because he is good at keeping his poker face.)


	7. Halloween

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU. What if the KnB cast had been born in the Harry Potter world? This is how I imagine it. Cute GoM shota and lots of magic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N.: So, I left you guys alone again…Yeah, I didn’t choose my name for no reason ;)   
> But seriously… August was really busy for me. I was only home for short periods of time and on the first half of the month I made a special peregrination to England to find myself the magic of Harry Potter! I went to Stonehenge but there were far too many tourists to properly feel the druids magic (but I actually saw some people trying – Wizards!!!!). And my wonderful journey ended with the Harry Potter Studios where I saw the real magic behind the magic. It was amazing!  
> I was so happy that I was certain I would have lots of energy to write more. But unfortunately I spend the rest of the month bedridden with the flu. Well bollocks!  
> Now that I’m back to college September went by without me noticing and that was that…  
> To make it up to you I’ve decided to post a double chapter. This is the first one.
> 
> This chapter ended up being a bit Kagami centered but I hope it’s not too bad :P Ended up adding yet another fandom. I feel a bit like J. K. Rolling; with a list of over 40 students with parallel lives to the main characters. She knew the stories of everyone, and sometimes she would talk about them in interviews and confuse the heck of readers because they didn’t remember reading about them.

Time goes by faster when you’re having fun. Except Taiga wasn’t having the best of times lately.

When Halloween came around and the unmistakable smell of baking pumpkin filled the castle, Taiga wasn’t feeling as cheery as he should have. In fact, he was feeling downright morose as they carefully picked the beautiful glistering seeds of the Puffapods in the green house. Kuroko, who he was paired up with, was carefully trying to pluck the reason out of him, as if it was a pink seedpod. It wouldn’t be the first time the other boy tried to influence him like that, and while he didn’t feel particularly upset with it, he just wasn’t very happy with the guy at the moment.

Eventually, Kuroko seemed to give up and instead turned to talk to Furihata and he was pretty much ignored.

Taiga was sulking. He really was. And the reason for that was Quidditch.

“Okay everyone put the pincers away. It’s lunch time, so hurry up if you need to take a shower!” Professor Longbottom called loudly over an obnoxiously noisy quartet of honking daffodils he had been given as a gift.

As they moved, the redhead couldn’t help search for a particular blue haired head. Aomine was walking with the other Slytherins and he didn’t seem very happy himself. He could only hope that they were having similar problems. More specifically, one Madam Hooch.

With the first Quidditch game of the season in just two weeks it was very overdue that he got his game license. Coach Aida was loading them with Spartan practice every other day and was extremely adamant that he played the game. Except Madam Hooch seemed to hate him to death and was determined to make his life as miserable as possible. And if Aomine’s frown was something to go by, then he was in the same condition. Of course their team had more than enough players to take his spot, but Coach was making pressure and demanded explanations because the other members had all gotten their licenses already. Like Takao, Kuroko and even bloody Furihata of course! He couldn’t even remember how many tests he had taken by now and some people – cough*Kuroko*cough – had made it on the first try! It was beyond frustrating!

“Bakagami!”

The loud voice by his ear made him jump considerably. Midorima wasn’t looking very happy with him as he regarded him with an unimpressed frown.

“What in the world is wrong with you? Do you know just how long I’ve been calling? Some people have lives too! They’re not here to just do your biding, you idiot-nanodayo!” The green haired boy chided him while fixing his own glasses with a superior and pissed look. If Takao was around he would probably start talking about reading in between the lines and how “Shin-chan” was actually worried about him… Fat chance, he was! “Here, Bakagami.”

Taiga moodily received the paper that was outstretched for him and watched the other go without another word. He knew what it was without looking but quickly scanned it just in case. It was indeed another summon from Hooch. He had another test that afternoon, right before dinner. Great.

x

Of course there was something else dampening his mood. Tatsuya.

Despite his initial efforts to avoid his brother, the Slytherins seemed intent on upsetting him. The elder students had taken the habit of wandering around places he usually went just to show him how buddy-buddy they were with his former best friend/brother.

They could regularly be seen by the painting of the Fat Lady and in result, had gotten into quite a number of fights with the older Gryffindors that didn’t appreciate their suspicious behavior.

That day he merely noticed a slimmer of a fight and caught a glimpse of their slimy serpent green as he entered the common room after lunch. His afternoon Potions class had been postponed as Professor Goose wasn’t feeling well. He had hoped to relax a bit before his test but his mood seemed to have dropped to the end of the ocean.

“Those damn Slytherins!” Hyuuga-senpai didn’t seem to be in a good mood either. He walked in to the room loudly followed by a placating Teppei-san. “I talked with Ishida the other day! Since he’s a third year I thought that maybe he could get them in line! He says that everyone is losing their minds with them! That particular group doesn’t respect anyone but themselves! Hanamiya and the rest of them!”

Taiga had been lazily lying on the couch as he listened but the mentions of Tatsuya’s new friends seemed worrying enough that he sat up straight as his senpais continued without noticing his presence.

“Apparently his brother is coming next year and he’s worried. Because you known… they say that their parents are all higher-ups on that group… What is it called? Uh… That dangerous one!” Hyuuga wildly gesticulated as if it would help him remember what it was.

Kiyoshi seemed to ponder calmly as if the Quidditch Captain wasn’t in the verge of exploding. “The _Aedituo_?”

“No, not them. One of the other two!” The dark haired teen sighed as he rubbed in between his eyes, as if a headache was forming. “Ah… definitely not the _Mixtionis_. No one pays them attention…”

For the first time since the beginning of the conversation, Kiyoshi-san looked worried. His eyes grew big and he gasped softly. “… you mean _Vastitas_!?”

“Yeah… That one. Ishida is worried. It must be bad inside his House, you know. So many kids with Daddies and Mommies on those gangs. He says that they’re trying to call other kids in to their ideals already and that got a lot of fighting going on.”

“What happens when they get other kids for their causes? Do they get inside the group? Can they get out?”

The two Gryffindors looked startled as the red head suddenly jumped into conversation looking as agitated as a mother Horntail without her eggs in sight. Hyuuga hesitated, carefully choosing his words before answering him. “.. I don’t really think that get integrated in the groups. They’re just children after all!” He sent a questioning look to his friend on his right.

Kiyoshi nodded his concordance on the matter and Taiga felt a bit calmer but the matter still worried him. It must have shown on his face because his two senpais regarded him carefully now. “Why are you so interested in this, Kagami-kun?” Teppei-san asked him kindly and without any sort of prying, simple concern for him, but it still disarmed him enough to make him stutter while thinking of an appropriated answer. He hadn’t thought about telling anyone about this matter, after all, he still didn’t know these people very well. He liked his upperclassmen a lot but they were still Gryffindor to the core. What if they didn’t approve of his friendships? What if hey judged him? What if…?

“Kagami-kun’s brother is a second year Slytherin. Hanamiya-san seems to have cleverly manipulated him on to his side and away from Kagami-kun.” As per usual, Kuroko seemed to have made his way to the middle of the conversation without anyone noticing; but his sudden appearances and subsequent panic always managed to dispel even the tensest and most serious of moods, so no one complained too hard about it this time.

Teppei-san warmly smiled as he vigorously pated his red-haired junior. “No wonder you looked so worried, Kagami! Don’t worry, we’ll ask Ishida-san to probe around for us! Maybe he’ll find out Hanamiya’s intentions for Kagami’s brother. Right Hyuuga-kun?” The warm action made the other’s face as red as his hair.

Kagami couldn’t tell just how relived he was about his senpais’ acceptance. As sad as it was, the latest times were slowly corroding his trust in his friends as the paranoid fear of betrayal carefully enveloped him. Who knew when he would be dumped in the mud again by the people he thought knew him best?

Hyuuga-senpai spurted indignantly as if the idea was ridiculous. “Why in the world would Ishida listen to us? Better ask Kamiya first! He can handle Ishida better than us!”

“Kamiya Taichi-senpai? That really nice senpai? He showed me around the other day when I got lost!” Takao suddenly chimed in from behind a large armchair where he had been comfortably relaxing trough their conversation, unnoticed. “Isn’t Ishida-san a Slytherin? What’s his relationship with Kamiya-senpai?”

“They used to get into a lot of fights. But by the end of last year they seemed to be best friends. Something must have happened.” Teppei laughed softly as he remembered a particularly heated fight.

“It was such a blessing! Things got a little calmer after that!” Sneered Hyuuga as he made himself comfortable on the sofa besides Kagami.

Teppei chuckled also taking a seat. “Oh, don’t say that! I remember how hard you laughed when Kamiya told us that he had dropped a stinky bomb inside Ishida’s cauldron during Potions.”

“You’re remembering it wrong!” But there a ghost of a smile on his face. “I was gagging hard because he stunk! And if I was ever laughing of such an immature prank was because I couldn’t understand how he thought that wouldn’t backfire!”

By then everyone was silently chuckling, _Vastitas_ forgotten and a lighter air surrounded the common room. Taiga was starting to relax a bit more, problems gone for the moment, as it is the nature of children to quickly let themselves be distracted. Until Takao sheepishly broke the calm.

“Ano… Sorry for asking this but… lately everyone’s been talking about these _Aedituo_ and now _Vastitas_. What’s that about?” Asked the raven haired first year which made the second years look baffled.

“I thought Takao-kun said he was aware of our world even if he was muggleborn.” Kuroko calmly pondered as he watched the other but ignore the little embarrassed shade he turned.

“Ah…! Let’s just say my uncle only brought the good side of the magical world to us.”

“Actually I liked to know better as well!” Kagami suddenly chirped in and stealing all the attention away from his friend. “ _Vastitas_ is really well known in America but I’m not sure how it started or anything. And I barely know about the other two…”

Kiyoshi seemed to be the first to recover from the earlier shock and immediately called the attention to himself. He looked like an old man gently smiling surrounded by his grandchildren and about to tell an amazing bedtime fairytale by the fireplace. Except this was quite the serious theme.

“If you want to start from the beginning I guess you have to start with Voldemort. Do you remember that, Takao-kun?”

The other rolled his eyes at the question. Everyone knew about that! The dark wizard that some adults had trouble saying his name for some strange reason. Even his uncle was a bit nervous about it at times. “I don’t remember-remember! I was a baby! But my parents sometimes talk about that one year were we lived in Korea. My uncle came and made them leave everything behind. My parents say that’s why I like kimchi so much!” He smiled a bit, thinking of his favorite dish.

Kiyoshi nodded gravely. “That sounds about right. Muggleborns and their families were in danger at the time, though it took people a while to realize it. Many were locked up before anyone could think of running away.” There was a heavy silence as the children silently thought about the poor people that suffered during those dark times. For them that had been born during or after that, it seemed just so far away and distant from them and their lives. But then the older student continued. “After His fall, Harry Potter himself chased the remaining Death Eaters and brought every single one to justice. But that left, of course, their families. Their wives, husbands, children… anyone that may have shared their ideals and supported the uprising from the shadows… and still holds a big grudge against the Savior to this day.”

“That’s where the _Aedituo_ comes in.” Hyuuga took over. “It started as an obscure political party that defended the purity of blood. But they couldn’t push very hard because most of their names were on the Aurors’ blacklist. They were being watched carefully to prevent another uprising.”

“Why did they let that party exist? Wasn’t it clear they were supporters of Voldemort?” Takao looked perplexed as he regarded them.

 The older Gryffindors smiled sadly and Kiyoshi sighed deeply. “Because of mankind’s oldest disease: Greed! The parties’ heads were still old rich families. And they had a big number of anonymous supporters among the crowds.”

“Because they had supporters the government couldn’t just arrest them or make them disband without plausible reason. They hadn’t done anything besides some boring speeches and fund gatherings. Just normal stuff. So they waited. And then the problems started.”

The three youngsters had their utmost attention locked on the two telling the story, caught on the flow. “What happened?”

“Violent gatherings. Mobs. Assaults on muggleborns. Attacks on muggles. You name it! But they couldn’t implicate anyone from the party itself. Any path that may have led to them was mysteriously gone and they had the gall to show up and condemn the people that participated. They just dead-on denied any involvement on anything.”

“The bastards just didn’t like to dirt their hands. Or they could clean them perfectly. They’re just pristine!”

   “This was about the time that _Mixtionis_ appeared. You could say that they are the opposite of _Aedituo_. Their propaganda was that purity of the blood was slowly killing the magic and to fight it we should breed with muggleborn wizards or muggles. It was a huge commotion!”

“It was about that time that PSS first showed up and people started to panic like crazy! It happened from night to day. Suddenly they had half of the magical world on their side.” Hyuuga snickered as gesticulated, emphasizing just how quickly it had happened. “But they lost them just as quickly. Some PSS patients started showing up and being muggleborn or half blood and their propaganda lost all meaning! There were some suspicions that they were lying about their blood line but there was never a full investigation about it.”

“Why not?”

“You know the saying “He who raises their voice first loses the argument”? Someone accused the _Aedituo_ of forging statistics and all hell broke loose! Full battles in between the two groups’ supporters broke through the whole country. A lot of muggles were hurt or died and an even higher number had to have their memories erased. It cost the government a lot of money and time to fix. And _Mixtionis_ was no _Aedituo_. No matter what they did they couldn’t prove that they weren’t actually involved in it and lost all credibility. The only ones that stayed were the fanatics and they only did worse! The most dangerous thing about _Mixtionis_ is the wars they wage against _Aedituo_.”

“In the end they are just a bunch of hippies playing politics!” Hyuuga in a very bored way dismissed the subject before turning to the main point of the afternoon. “Now… _Vastitas_ … They are a totally different story.”

“What’s their campaign?”

“They don’t have one.” Hyuuga Junpei watched amused the confused faces of his juniors and smirked confidently. “Many people are as confused as you. You see, because they’re referred together as this decade’s troublemakers, everyone thinks that _Vastitas_ is a political party just like _Aedituo_ and _Mixtionis_. But they’re not!”

“What are they then?”

But Taiga cut his senpai’s answer. “Anarchists.”

“At least that is what they call themselves. But really they’re just looking to cause some chaos and destruction. That’s what _vastitas_ means: devastation!” Hyuuga continued gravely.

“They spend their time instigating the other two in their fights, but they also love destroying public – and private – property. Some things they do are Death Eater worthy!”

“But… why? What’s the point?” The small raven haired boy looked around the room for someone with an explanation, looking as horrified as the others had been in the beginning.

“No reason. It’s just for their entertainment I’ll bet! No one really understands them. Sometimes one or two names come up but there are no arrest made. Most of these people are on the run right now.”

“But what about Hanamiya and his gang? They said their parents are higher ups in _Vastitas_. Can’t they arrest their parents or something?!”

“Oi, oi… First of all… who will believe the words of a bunch of children? And second, if you are referring to use them as bait for their parents that would be against what Dumbledore believed in. You guys may not understand yet, but Hogwarts has a lot of power over people. It’s not just a symbol, a monolith that you look at. It’s also power. A building like this, with such magic inside, it’s magical on its own. It has been through a lot too. No… bottom line is: while they are Hogwarts students they’re protected! No one harms a Hogwarts student!”

x

After that somewhat dark and tense conversation the day had gone by so fast that before he had time to blink he was already touching down after a couple of test maneuvers under the sharp eye of the fair haired hawk witch.

The heavy theme had weighted his hearth and his body so much that he felt he had flown like an elephant with tampered propellers. Not that it mattered much because really… she was just going to fail him without a second thought.

“For the love of Merlin! Kagami-san what were you doing in there?!” Hooch suddenly came from where she was sitting completely surprising him. It wasn’t usual for her to really talk to him at all. “Flying without your hearth on it can be incredibly dangerous! It’s an art that requires full concentration!  Never seen you do anything like this. Perhaps you have given up? Because it looked like you were not even trying!”

The old witch admonished him and something snapped inside Taiga. Maybe it was the accumulated stress that had reached its breaking point. Maybe it was the new information about all the trouble Himuro had possibly gotten himself into. Maybe it was about knowing that he had been ditched for that type of people by the one he trusted most. Whatever it was that made him yell to a teacher, Kagami found a couple of hours later that he was extremely grateful for it.

“Maybe I just got tired of trying!” This sudden remark brought the silent to the Quidditch pitch where they were, Madam Hooch looking taken aback. Anyone would have shut up right then, but the damage was done and the flood doors had been open and before he could stop himself he was pouring out his frustrations. “Because you were just going to fail me! I mean, do you realize this is the first time we have talked since… well never! You are my teacher! You are supposed to teach me, guide me, but every time you just said: _You have failed the test Kagami-san. Do you wish to reschedule?_ ” By this time the hawk eyed witch had recovered from her earlier shock but he didn’t give in. “How am I supposed to learn if you never tell me what I’m doing wrong! I don’t even know what you want from me! All I know is that you didn’t give me a chance!”

“Kagami-san!”

“No! It’s true! To you I’m just the other guy that was reckless in class! And I’ll never be more than that!” He barely noticed the tears that now marred his face and the horrified look the other was giving him. It was just too much for him. “You never gave me a chance and Coach is always asking if I have my license already! Everyone is counting on me and I can’t because you won’t let me! And Kuroko can’t play by himself and Furihata is a wreck! And they all keep telling me that must play in the game because it’s the Slytherins but there isn’t enough time and I don’t know what I’m doing and Tatsuya can’t even help because he’s in trouble and he may end up in Azkaban and I need to help him!”

He really stopped paying attention to the nonsense that was coming out of his mouth and his tears had evolved to a full blown sobbing mess probably making his words incomprehensible. But the unexpected feeling of warm robe clad arms immediately cut his rant as he froze. Still not understanding completely what had just happened he could only look at the dark cloth of the teacher’s coat and let her softly pet his hair.

“There, there… Come on son, it’s alright! Shh…” The calming tone and the warm embrace brought a new wave of tears and soon he was swallowing all his embarrassment as he wept in the shoulder of his flight instructor.

They stayed like that for a few good minutes as the sun slowly descended and slowly but certainly the tears came to a stop and a wave of mortification came as Taiga realized just what had just happened in the spasm of half an hour. He must have looked miserable as he slowly untangled himself from the embrace because the older witch merely smiled reassuringly.

“Feeling better son? Let it all out?” A comforting hand gently rubbed his shoulder making him even more self-conscious.

He nodded weakly feeling terrible for letting his frustrations on his teacher. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you, Madam Hooch.”

She looked a bit conflicted and for a brief moment he had the weird feeling that she was embarrassed. “Well… usually I would condemn this kind of attitude but… I think I’ll let it slide this time.” And then she looked serious again her pointy finger raised in a warning. “But just this once Kagami-san! Are we clear on that?” Taiga managed to stifle his sudden need to laugh at her quick change in demeanor and nodded solemnly.

“Yes, Madam Hooch.”

“Good! Now… I believe we need to reschedule this test.” Just the reminder of made Taiga want to slump in the ground. He just had two more weeks. Would he have enough time to try again? “I think you need some time to calm down and regain your balance. How are you next Wednesday?”

That surprised him again. That was the fastest it had ever been. “I have some free time before Astronomy.”

“Perfect! Meet me here then.” Her hand squeezed his shoulder patronizing but firm and her smile grew. “Sometimes adults forget that even youth people have problems of their own. Stay strong boy!” He nodded once more to that, hoping that the heat he was feeling on his face wasn’t the fierce blush he was imagining. “I’m ashamed to admit but it’s true that my previous methods may have been a bit unbiased as of late… And despite what you may think, I truly think you are one of the most talented people this school as had. So… this time I’m going to tell you exactly what is that I expect from you!” As she spoke her smile grew more and more excited ignoring his rapidly growing confusion. “I’m about to give you a hellish test that would make professional players cry! And you…” By this point his eyes were the size of saucers but nothing could beat the feeling of excitement that her words were creating.  “…you my boy… are going to pass it!”

xxx

Tetsuya liked interesting people. Being a dull person himself, being surrounded by the strange, the mysterious and the fascinating seemed like the best idea to make up for it.

That was why he liked the GoM. They were all different and eccentric people of their own. Their bright and strange personalities were so unique he would often spend hours observing them.

Midorima-kun was probably the most eccentric person he knew and his antics of late were far more enjoyable as he wouldn’t just bury himself on the library with Akashi-san anymore. Watching him interact with Takao-kun was highly amusing as his poor social capacities seemed to be stretched beyond his limit.

Takao was also an interesting friend to have around. He seemed to drawn people to his side as flies to honey. His strange fascination with Midorima-kun was a treat to his observation hobbies. And of course there was that thing that was happening behind everyone’s backs… He had yet to find out what it was and that too was exciting! Tetsuya loved mystery after all!

Akashi might be the least interesting of his friends to watch. His eccentricities stood out the least from all of them but what he really enjoyed was watching his mother-hen moments with the other students. Watching Akashi interact with people was amazing because of the sharp contrast between his commanding persona and his caring attitude. This was especially strong towards his friends and most recently, Murasakibara-kun. The boy usually needed a lot of attention and babysitting.

And speaking of Akashi… that reminded him of Furihata-kun. Furihata was probably his current most interesting friend. And why? The brunet was the most normal person Tetsuya had ever seen! He had normal habits. Normal tastes. Normal clothes and hairstyle. Everything about him was normal and banal. It was so out of place that it was impossible not to be interested. Especially because he was incredibly scared of Akashi-san for some reason. Or maybe there wasn’t a reason and now that he was thinking about it, Tetsuya thought that maybe Furihata was an eccentric of his own! He was afraid of almost everything! Even minor things like ghosts and bugs and things that would never hurt anyone! Even more fascinating! And it was fun to see Akashi sight helplessly every time he was paired up in Herbology or Potions with a guy that couldn’t stop shaking when they were close.

But the point he was trying to make… Ah… Interesting people. He liked to watch and be around those people.

Aomine had been his best friend for a long time. Watching his brotherly relationship with Momoi-san was also fun. But Aomine by himself was good enough. He was always full of energy and ready to jump in on his head! He liked to include Tetsuya in his antics and that made him very happy.

When pressure started to affect them, Aomine crashed the lowest. It seemed his energy and his vibrancy were gone. That was when he had decided to save them. To save his best friend. 

Strangely enough, the first friend he ever made in Hogwarts turned out to be just another Aomine! Or so he thought. The more Tetsuya compared his friends the more they became similar and the more they became different. They were each other’s opposites without being different.

And after a lot of observations Tetsuya managed to reach some conclusions. Aomine and Kagami were similar in their good traits and opposites on their bad ones. It made them a perfect version of the other while not being perfect themselves.

For example… Both were very competitive but were unlike any hooligans for they had strong fair-play. They were passionate about their feelings but dumb about the deep ones – and most of things – while they cared about their respective adopted siblings. Momoi and Himuro.

They were both kind but while Kagami was motherly and soft, Aomine was sharp and awkward and never let himself be stepped on. When he was upset, Aomine would disappear and hide himself in a dark corner to sulk. Kagami would suck it up and work himself out of it.

Kagami made Aomine’s fire light up very quickly. And maybe the other way around as well! There had been a time where Aomine was constantly sulking, looking as if the world had lost his color and maybe it had. But now he saw in Kagami a rival. It made Tetsuya just so happy to see his excitement every time they had a chance to compete with each other.

Yes… He probably owed Kagami-kun from possibly saving Aomine-kun from depression. And that was why he felt he now needed to help him. Lately, the red head had been frowning more and he often was lost in thought, forcing Tetsuya to explain the classes to him at the end of the day.

He understood at some point that Himuro-san had probably hurt Kagami in a way that was going to scar ugly but was it just that? He had used his people watching skills with intent and tried his best to understand what could possibly be upsetting his friend. But while it had given him very interesting insight on his person it did not help him. Knowing that the boy liked the smell of the fresh soil in the Green Houses or that the sound of pages turning made him sleepy was interesting and normally he would rejoice and take notes on his wild observation notebook but now he was looking for something a little bit deeper.

At some point he thought that he may have done something to anger the other. The negative reaction he had shown when he decided that maybe a direct approach would be more efficient, showed him that Kagami was upset with him. Why, he was not sure, and it kept him worried over it for a while. But after some more digging he came to the conclusion that whatever Kagami was feeling for him was an effect and not a cause.

That relaxed him. Kagami-kun wasn’t truly mad at him. Unfortunately, relaxing only made him let the problem drag on for longer. After the conversation they had had with their senpais at the common room, Tetsuya decided that enough was enough! After the heavy topic and with his caring nature for his brother, Kagami-kun would certainly be wearing his emotions on his sleeve. Cracking him would be easy and while it would be cruel it was necessary so that he could help him.

He had not managed to corner the other after that conversation and the red haired boy disappeared quickly after that. But it was no problem because today was Halloween! And Tetsuya had a plan!

Even in his worse moods, Kagami would be unable to resist the luxurious Halloween Feast. Let him devour his problems first and them, when they were alone in the tower he would strike. Yes! It was a good plan!

x

His plan was entirely ruined.

They had left Gryffindor’s Tower for dinner and Kagami had yet to show up but there was nothing strange about it. Tetsuya had not been worried because he was sure the amazing smell of the feast would reach whatever obscure corner the boy was hiding at. He twisted his nose as he thought of that. Kagami was not Aomine. It would be strange if he was really hiding.

But he was not worried. And the Grand Hall was simply magnificent that night with its Halloween decorations and the starry sky above them. He strategically choose a seat by the end of the table so that the late Kagami would have no choice but to seat beside him. And then he waited. And waited.

They were already halfway through digging into the delicious dinner, and he was losing his appetite, worried sick for his missing friend, when he finally arrived making a lot of people stop eating to watch. He just felt so relieved he barely paid attention to Madam Hooch that had arrived at the same time!

“I was starting to worry, Kagami-kun. It was unlike you and your stomach to miss this feast.” He put his best nonchalant face as the other took a seat to his left, red in the face from embarrassment. Another thing where he differed from Aomine-kun. Kagami was very humble and didn’t particularly liked to be the center of attention.

“Oh… Sorry about that! I was… caught up on something.”

That was when he realized his plan had been ruined. Thanks to the proximity of the other, Tetsuya noticed that the redhead’s eyes were red and puffy and his shoulders looked far less tense than they had been all week. Kagami had been crying.

Tetsuya felt like sulking as he watched the other fill his plate with an enthusiasm that had been quite subdued lately. “That’s not fair, Kagami-kun. You could rely on me more…”

He had meant to whisper that but the other listened to him fine even over the noise of the Hall. His face of guilty surprise made him feel even worse. He hadn’t meant for that to come out.

The red head carefully studied his face for a moment and in the end, sighing and slowly dropping the food back on his plate, he meticulously cleaned his greasy hand before using it to mess his hair.

“Idiot!” This change in attitude caused him to lose his ability to counter that with a sarcastic comment, as of usual, and he could only try to bat the offending hand away. “Thank you. Thank you for worrying about me.”

That surprised him more than it should; but on all his observations, Kagami had never come out as a particularly perceptive person. So it felt strange to have the other see so clearly trough him. But also, the bright smile he was offering him was real and conveyed far more than his words. In the end he could no longer feel mad about it.

“Next time, rely on me more.” He told the other resolutely.

Kagami chuckled and offered him his fist to bump. “Okay! I won’t forget!”

It was not a strange gesture to him. Aomine would often greet him like that, but it was the first time Kagami-kun had done it to him just for the sake of it. When their skin made contact he couldn’t help but feel proud of their progress.

If the redhead noticed his happy mood, he didn’t comment, but attacked dinner with far more gusto than before. He even tried to fill Tetsuya’s plate more, claiming that it was time he start eating like a man! And by the time they were stuffing themselves with dessert there were no more remains of the sad air that had followed Kagami around the whole month.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N.: So I wanted to make an introduction to the gang and the three group troublemakers that will be our antagonists in the story. The chapter ended up being a bit heavy maybe.
> 
> Now, before running to the next chapter, enjoy Coach Aida Riko’s wandlore:  
> Aida Riko - Ebony, twelve and a half inches, reasonably supple and unicorn hair core – Very good at Combative magic and Transfiguration. Ebony is happiest in the hand of those with the courage to be themselves. Frequently non-conformist, highly individual or comfortable with the status of outsider. In the experience of Garrick Ollivander, the ebony wand’s perfect match is one who will hold fast to his or her beliefs, no matter what the external pressure, and will not be swayed lightly from their purpose.   
> So why did I chose this wand for Riko? For one, I think that, in her world, be it Japan or any other, being a coach girl in a guys’ team is harsh. I’m sure she has just a tiny bit of pressure in her shoulders to prove herself just as good as any other guy! So she has a lot of guts and doesn’t care what other people may think of her. Not that she is an outsider per se… but she doesn’t look like she has many female friends. Also, when in KnB the guys wanted to recruit her as their coach, she stayed firm until the end on her decisions which made their lives hard.


	8. Grffindor Vs Slytherin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU. What if the KnB cast had been born in the Harry Potter world? This is how I imagine it. Cute GoM shota and lots of magic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N.: This is the next chapter. It’s the Slytherin/Gryffindor game! Who will win? And why is it that every Quidditch season in Hogwarts starts with the two main rival teams playing against each other. It’s weird that the teachers promote this hostility knowing how dangerous it can become. Didn’t they learn anything from Harry and Draco?  
> This is the Gryffindor line up for the game:  
> Keeper – Kiyoshi Teppei  
> Chasers – Hyuuga Junpei, Kagami Taiga and Kuroko Tetsuya   
> Beaters – Mitobe Rinnosuke and Koganei Shinji  
> Seeker – Izuki Shun  
> Takao will play on the next game I promise! The Slytherin line up will be in the end to avoid spoilers. But I’m sure you know who will be playing ;)
> 
> (Sorry for being really bad to come up with puns for Izuki, but I guess that he is pretty bad at them too…)
> 
> Thank you KuroichiRukibara for reviewing and I’m happy that you thought so... Sorry to take so long to respond and I hope you are reading this still and enjoying it. And Happy Halloween!

Kuroko Tetsuya woke up with a mix of anxiety and enthusiasm. Today was a very important day. Their first game was just in a couple of hours! They had been practicing for the last two months without rest for this!

But despite the obvious excitement that his mind was going through, his body hadn’t exactly caught up yet. So he still climbed groggily out of bed and nearly crashed against the only other person who was awake at such an ungodly hour, on his way to the bathroom. Kagami-kun was already there brushing his teeth, his eyes red and puffy as thou he hadn’t got any sleep - but strangely happy looking - surrounded by and excited aura.

“Morning Kagami-kun.” He greeted softly as he took his place next to the red head.

The result was the expected. Kagami cried out in shock, surprise and fear and fell on his bottom cursing him and his invisibility as usual then quieted because this was just normal.

“That’s some ridiculous bed hair you’ve got! Trying to scare the Slytherin into giving up?” Recovered from his earlier fright, the red head quickly finished getting ready but stayed behind as he waited for Tetsuya.

“I don’t know what you mean Kagami-kun. May I inquired why is it that you seem to have forfeited sleep today?”

“Always with the smartass language…!” The red haired boy groaned unhappily as he watched him finished combing his impressive bed hair down. “I was just too excited for today! I had a hard time falling asleep!”

“What are you? A child?!” Captain Hyuuga decided to show up on that moment wearing duckling pajamas looking sour but like Kagami, he had an aura of excitement.

“Huh… Yes?” The other mumbled, looking embarrassed. His eyes kept zoom’ing on the sempai’s strange attire. 

“Oh. Right… Well next time ask the matron for a sleeping potion or something! We need you wide awake for this game!” The dark haired student shushed them out as he headed for the showers.

“As if I could fail now!” The red head roared while a wide smile as they returned to the dormitories.

Kagami had been extremely happy since he had received his game license only two days after Halloween. And even Coach’s equally excited but hellish training sessions couldn’t dampen his mood. Or any of the other team members’ for that matter. Everyone seemed to be looking forward to the battle that would take place later on.

“You going already…?” A heavy voice asked them from the confines of his warm bed covers.

“You should get up too Takao-kun. Coach wants the whole team gathered before the game.” Tetsuya reminded his roommate before crawling under his bed to look for the rest of his equipment.

“Eeeehhhh… But I’m not even going to play…!” The raven haired boy sounded positively miserable as the rest of the room begun to wake up and in the end they had to leave him there, risking the wrath of their coach.

xxx

This was it! This was it! The game! He could almost feel the wind in his face and the Quaffle in his hands! But before they had to get through Coach’s inspirational speech or something… She had gathered them in the common room before breakfast to avoid “the spying eyes”…

“… and we must be careful for their new line up this year! I heard they have a bunch of good new players and I got absolutely no Intel on them!” The petit brunet was screaming in frustration as she tried to fill them with last minute tips and strategies.

Taiga could barely hold himself, and he certainly wasn’t paying too much attention to what was being said, with the game almost there and his stomach complaining about the lack of food. Thankfully, after two or three particularly loud groans, Teppei managed to convince Riko to let them go down for breakfast.

“Ne… Aren’t we forgetting someone?” Koganei asked no one in particular.

“I’m right here, senpai.” Kuroko pointed out from his left side and making most of them leap away in surprise.

“Yeah, Kuroko’s here. No need to worry.” Hyuuga yelled from the front of their line.

“Hum… I’m not sure it was Kuroko I was thinking about…” 

But no one paid him too much attention. And it wasn’t until they arrived at the Grand Hall and Kagami noticed Midorima seating on his table - standing out from his peers, courtesy of the outrageous hat he was wearing - that he remembered they had left Takao alone in the tower.

“Ne… Kuroko…” He bent to the side to whisper to the other. “We left Takao behind!”

“I know. That’s why I distracted the senpais earlier.” Was his hushed answer.

“Come on guys! Eat your fill!” Coach suddenly passed them and filled their plates to the brim before doing the same to the rest of the team.

“Oh yeah! Let’s eat!” He definitely approved this of kind of incentive.

“But we are not playing…” He heard Furihata whine somewhere down the table. A quick scout proved that Coach had decided to treat her team with excited equality.

He was just happy to eat with his friends before they headed out. Some people were complaining about the amount of food, which he couldn’t really understand. Because Hogwarts food was the best and it was impossible not to like it but he let Kuroko dump most of his food onto his plate and watched the older students playfully argue, all full of good mood.

“Kagami! Look out!” Someone yelled but it was too late. The sharp and heavy pain on the top of his head told him two things. One: Alex’s ratty owl had brought him mail. The evil thing just loved to drop heavy packages on top of him. And two: the size and shape of it indicated that she had maintained her promise.

“Is that a broom, Kagami?”

The brown protection paper went flying rather quickly and chorus of awe begun around him.

“It’s a Fire Hurricane!”

“A very good racing broom!”

“Let me see Kagami!”

“Bakagami! If you wanted to register a personal broom for today you need to give us more time! Damn, now I need to find Madam Hooch real quick!” And Coach stormed off quickly before he could apologize to her properly.

Ignoring his teammates’ antics, Taiga rescued the small letter attached to the noble wood before his new broom was stolen away and passed around.

_Dear Taiga_

_Congratulations on making the team! I’m so proud of you! Go and destroy those Slytherins! And have fun! Having fun is the most important part, don’t forget it._

_Sorry, I couldn’t afford a newer model but I hope this one will help you kick some ass today!_

_With Love_

_Alex_

_P.S.: Your father didn’t want to talk about it but he said he was happy for you. I think it’s an improvement…_

Smiling he resumed eating smiling at Kuroko’s curious stare. He discreetly nudged the letter so that he could also read. He had after all promised to depend on the guy more. And he looked kind of excited and happy whenever he did this kind of thing. That was nice too.

xxx

After breakfast the team headed out to the stadium, where they separated. Coach wasn’t allowed in the boys changing room so she followed the rest of the group to the benchers alongside the rest of the castle.

The boys solemnly walked and dressed in silence, the first sight of nerves showing up. Tetsuya had to remind himself that despite their attitude, today would also be a first for the second years. The only person that still looked 100% enthusiastic was Kagami. The red head was almost vibrating with energy.

“Yosh! Guys, let’s give our best!” The Captain suddenly roared with pride making everyone stare at him. “And be thankful that I’m going to be the one to shake that slippery Imayoshi’s hand!”

“Ah! That’s right!” Izuki chuckled when he took a good look at his captain’s upset face. Then he face lighted with that shine that indicated he had just remembered a new pun. “Imayoshi was captain last year so this year, duh… Captain Obvious!”

“Izuki if we didn’t need you to finish the game I would hex you!” Hyuuga’s eyes promised murder and everyone laughed at his reaction.

“By Merlin, Izuki! That was worse than usual!”

But the despite the horribly chosen pun, the mood was once again lifted and even Tetsuya smiled a bit.

“Ne… let’s do a circle!” Teppei suddenly called out.

“Eh… That’s embarrassing…”

“Let’s do it! Let’s do it! Ne, Mitobe?!”

So, with some reluctance and some excited faces, they formed a circle. Their cheer echoed in the empty changing room and by the end of it not only Tetsuya felt pumped - maybe as much as Kagami had previously – but all his teammates looked ready.

“Yosh! It’s time! Let’s go!”

xxx

Captain ordered them to make a few laps around the field before the start of the game, mostly so that Kagami could try his new broom, but also to take a good look at the new Slytherin lineup. And a good thing too because Tetsuya nearly feel from his broom with shock.

“Kuroko! Aren’t those…?”

The bluenet flew a bit closer to his captain to avoid yelling. He watched the other team do their warm ups.

“Yes. The Generation of Miracles.” He answered heavily. “It looks like Akashi is playing Seeker.”

“I’m not very worried about that!” Hyuuga said proudly. “Izuki is the best Seeker I’ve ever seen. He has a… special talent. If it weren’t for the rules, he would’ve made the team last year!” He smiled mysteriously and confident.

Unfortunately, Tetsuya did not share his optimism. Even after practicing with the team and becoming acquainted with what Gryffindor called their secret weapon he did not relax. He knew that Izuki-san had a special vision that allowed him to see the Snitch better than anyone else but…  “I’m sorry to say but… Akashi-san may also have some special talent, Captain.” He held the other’s shocked gaze and continued. “But what I’m worried about are his mind games. I’ve never seen his talent before but that is because he’s intelligent enough not to have to use it.”

“Thanks for the heads up! I’ll be careful!” Izuki passed them on that moment his stance still cheerful but more focused.

“That’s that! And… What about the Keeper? The big guy?” The raven haired student pointed out.

“Murasakibara-kun. I apologize but I can’t say anything about him. I’ve never seen him play before. He’s a lazy person and never wanted to play with us before.”

“Hum… He’s kinda big…! Passing him is going to be thought.” 

“I know one of the Beaters. He’s a first year, Sakurai Ryou. And the other is a third year?”

“Ah, that’s Imayoshi!” Hyuuga’s face turned very sour as he talked about the other captain. “Beware, he has a nasty personality!” His glare became even worse when the older student seemed to sense them watching him and cheerfully waved at them. “Ignore the son-a-Goblin for now! What about the Chasers?”

As much as watching the captain’s bitter face had amused him, the remainder of the Chasers brought new clouds to his mind. “I’m afraid to say that Aomine-kun and Kise-kun are both Kagami-kun’s level.”

“Don’t throw me down so quickly, Kuroko! And yourself even!” He punctuated his point with a strong fist against his poor skull. “And the last one?”

“… that’s Himuro-san. Kagami’s brother.”

x

It was going to be a tough game. He knew by experience just how good Tatsuya was. Aomine was definitely going to be another powerful adversary and word already had gotten to him that Kise was just as good. He was just so excited!!!

There was nothing better than a strong opponent to make the game interesting!

“Kagami-kun, are you alright? Himuro-san is here…” Kuroko stopped his broom besides him and waited in line with him as the other players slowly joined them ready to start the game. His face looked disturbed for some reason.

“Don’t worry, I’ll just kick his butt on the game you’ll see!” The other’s shocked face made him laugh as he offered him his fist once more. His face was definitely going to break with how big his smile felt right now. “It’s going to be an intense game, Kuroko! I can’t wait!”

Thankfully, whatever seemed to have been upsetting the bluenet disappeared and he bumped his fist with a much cheerier attitude. Which wasn’t much because… well… Kuroko wasn’t the easiest guy to read emotionally or otherwise but still…   

“Oi! Bakagami you bastard!” Aomine seemed to have finally reached the center of the field and he advanced for them at full speed. He pointed at him in an accusatory manner looking terribly offended. “What are you doing?! That’s my greeting with Tetsu! Get your own!”

“Aomine-kun!” Kuroko looked very displeased with the other’s attitude and he felt like laughing at the dark skinned boy’s expenses. But he didn’t because that might delay them more and he wanted to play more than anything else.

“Ahomine, I don’t see your name on it! Listen up! Bumping fists is a bro thing! It’s normal!”

“No! No! No! It’s our greeting, stupid Bakagami!”

“Aomine-kun, please don’t be childish. Here. I’ll bump fists with you as well if you want.”

But the other just kept looking sour and unhappy until Madam Hooch approached them. “What is this? A fight?”

“No, Madam Hooch…” They both chorused.

“I don’t want fights on this field unless there’s a Quaffle or a Snitch involved! Make up quickly so we can start the game! Come on!” She clearly wasn’t fooled and further more she seemed to be waiting.

  Aomine looked a bit at loss of what to do and even Kagami was a bit confused. He wasn’t truly mad with the other or anything; it was just the usual banter on his side. But Aomine was upset. Did she want them to shake hands or something?

“Here, Aomine.” If they didn’t hurry she might even cancel the game altogether! That was a no-no!

The bluenet looked surprised and confused as he offered him his fist instead of his hand. For some reason he couldn’t understand, fist bumping was important to this guy. Back on America, it was standard bro etiquette. It was cool but not so flashy that could be considered lame. It had attitude. But it was important to Aomine which meant he too should treat it as something important.

He must have seen that resolution in his eyes because he returned the gesture, albeit a bit uneasily. Then Aomine backed away without another word even though he kept studying his face from afar as if he couldn’t entirely understand him either. Weird.

He turned back to the fair haired witch that was still standing there and shrugged his shoulders, trying to convey that he felt as confused as she looked. After Halloween they had maintained some sort of bond and he didn’t want to let her down. She merely sighed and blew her whistle to gather everyone’s attention.

“Ok! I want a clean game, understood!? Captains, greet each other in the middle.”

Taiga watched as Captain Hyuuga walked the distance that separated him from Slytherin’ captain looking tenser then he ever seen him. Compared to the other’s jovial and carefree expression, Hyuuga looked like he wanted to tear the smile from his face in a very brutal manner. And he looked like shaking hands with that person was physically painful.

“On your brooms! Ready…” And then she blew her whistle.

x

It was utter chaos!

He watched the ball pass hands so many times in the first minute that was impossible to tell which team had it. Tetsuya felt bad for being incapable of participating on the roughhousing part of the game, especially with just Captain and Kagami against Aomine, Kise and Himuro, but his specialty lied somewhere else.

Suddenly he felt it before he saw it. Aomine had just passed him and was heading for their goal zone. It seemed like their numbers had finally given them the advantage.

Quickly he gave pursue and located his team members. Kagami was nearly catching up with the Slytherin Chaser but kept a little lower as they practiced before. Swiftly he approached and before the other could understand what was happening he had slapped the ball directly to Kagami’s hands. The red head didn’t waste time and immediately headed the other way; only to dodge a dangerously close call with a Bludger and nearly colliding with Hyuuga that was busy dodging the other one.

“Ups…! Sorry about that, Hyuuga!” Imayoshi laughed and on the other side Sakurai was deep in apologies.

The strategy not only got their captain fuming but totally destroyed their momentum allowing Kise to steal the Quaffle and quickly dive to score. It was a good throw but Kiyoshi managed to catch it. “Ahah! That was close!” He laughed.

“Stop playing around, Teppei! Throw the Quaffle!” Hyuuga yelled at him.

“Hyuuga! Take it easy. It has only been five minutes of game yet! Oi, Kagami-kun! Go!” Kiyoshi continued with his good mood, a silly smile playing on his lips.

As agreed, Kagami immediately leaped to the other side of the field as the older student prepared to throw. All the players followed not thinking that it was abnormal that a second year could throw that far. Obviously the Quaffle calmly went to him as he waited near the hoops, and with ease, Tetsuya managed to slip between the confused Slytherins and pass to a waiting Kagami. The redhead used the strength from a powerful dive to power up the Quaffle’s speed before leaping out of the way.

The crowd goes wild and whoever is commenting on the game sounds like his having a frenetic attack before sounds of shock and surprise fill the stadium. Murasakibara has the red ball in his hands, like it wasn’t anything special. Tetsuya knows that his bad feeling was true after all. Not even Kiyoshi-san had been able to stop that particular goal from Kagami-kun before.

“Here goes… or something…” The purple haired boy lazily threw the Quaffle back in without a second thought and it barely leaves the goal zone before the four players are on it again with vicious intent. Captain Hyuuga seems to have sensed that it was getting dangerous and smartly stayed out of the way.

In less than 30 seconds the whistle is blown and Madam Hooch has to physically separate them to declare foul. “Cobbing! Slytherin gets a free throw! Gryffindor gets two!”

Now that the dust is set, Tetsuya can see that Kagami has a really nasty bruise on his right arm and a quickly swelling left cheekbone. Kise is grabbing his nose and there is blood all over his face. Himuro has a split lip. Aomine looks fine, just a bit upset.

Somewhere on his right Imayoshi is descending to contest Hooch’s decision. He has two injured players after all! As it turns out, both Kise and Himuro were Aomine’s doing and Kagami’s only offence had been against the bluenet for punching his brother on purpose. Wherever he appreciates his brother’s gesture or not is a mystery but Kagami doesn’t seem upset. He managed to get them two free throws after all.

x

The score did not change for the next half hour of game and as much as Taiga was having fun it was getting a bit frustrating and tiring. Most players were getting a bit desperate and fouls were being called left and right. It changed nothing because both Keepers were good. Extremely good. No matter how many times they tried no team could get a point in.

On the other hand Kiyoshi was clearly more tired than Murasakibara. Despite their best efforts, Slytherin managed to get more throws than them. Like now for example. He was definitely going to get a Blatching foul for this but Tatsuya’s throws were dangerous and Kiyoshi was a bit distracted. They did not collide, even though the elder one snarled at him a bit as they passed, but it was enough to disturb his aim and give the Gryffindors’ Keeper time to notice the problem. Kiyoshi was already diving to meet the red ball when Taiga heard Sakurai, from above them somewhere, yell his usual “I’m sorry!” which meant he had just hit another Bludger. A quick scan of the field showed him that neither Mitobe nor Koganei were around and there was a fast, mean and dangerous Bludger aiming for Teppei.

“Kiyoshi-senpai!”

There was a moment of calm in the half second it took the Keeper to see the threat. Kagami felt a great deal of respect for his senior when he deliberately choose to turn his back on it and continue his descend to defend his goals.

The sound of bone breaking made his stomach churn and somewhere on the benches, someone screamed before silence fell.

“Kiyoshi! You idiot! Madam Hooch…!” The Captain begun to yell for the referee but the other stopped him, one arm cradled under the other.

“No! I’m… I’m fine Hyuuga!”

“No, you’re not you idiot! We need to call for a timeout before…”

“Foul! Kagami, Blatching! One free throw for Slytherin!” Madam Hooch yelled.

“… before she gives us the penalty…”

Taiga felt bad now. It was his fault that the other was going to defend a penalty with a broken arm. “Captain… I’m sorry I…!”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Sakurai was still chanting as he passed them.

“Shut up stupid! And you too sorry-ass-mushroom!” Hyuuga yelled at both of them.

“… mushroom?”

“If you were really sorry you’d stop throwing Bludgers! Come on Kagami, we still have a game to play. And Kiyoshi is an idiot too!”

For some reason, Captain’s crude attitude and Sakurai’s confused face made him feel a bit better. And just in time for Tatsuya’s throw. He watched the ball sail through the air with a graceful curve that always made him feel like he had been hit with a Confundus.

Kiyoshi leapt to his side ready to block, but the sudden movement shook his broken arm making him vacillate. The lost second proved fatal as the Quaffle passed him, only inches away from his fingers.

“Score! Score! The first points of the match! Ten points for Slytherin!” The announcer was yelling over the excited crowd.               

“Ok, I think is time for a timeout already!” Hyuuga sighed morosely as he regarded his Keeper.

“Oh! The Gryffindors’ Skeeker seems to have fallen from his broom! What a nasty fall!” The announcer sounded perplexed and all the players stopped mid-air startled.

“Oh, no! No, no, no… Izuki!” The brunet almost immediately located the fallen Skeeker. “Timeout! Timeout! For the love of Merlin, why now!?”     

x

They were in a very sorry state when they stumbled into the changing rooms.

Kiyoshi-senpai was looking pale and Izuki was shaking and had to be held up by his teammates.

“I just… I slipped… I’m sorry Hyuuga… I slipped…” Was his constant mumbling.

“How much time do you want, son?” Madam Hooch asked from the rear as she was following them.

“At least ten minutes, please!”

“I won’t give less than fifteen! That boy is suffering from exhaustion. I won’t allow him in the broom with less!” And with that she turned around to declare her decision to the rest of the school.

“Thank you Madam!” They chorused.

Tetsuya nearly threw himself on the closest bench. He definitely did not have enough stamina for this.

“Izuki what happened? I never saw you like that before!” The Captain asked as he transfigured a makeshift cast for Teppei’s arm. “Your Eagle Eye never let us down!”

 The other groaned loudly as if just the reminder of that was painful. He was holed in between Koganei and Mitobe as they just sprawled themselves on the floor and helped keep him up. On their side, Kagami was sitting up, deeply asleep and snoring loudly.

“I guess Kuroko’s advice was a bit wasted…” Izuki tried to joke but he only managed a weak chuckle and a look of pure horror. “He used it against me… my eyes… He was always on top of me! No matter where I went. I was so afraid to miss the Snitch because he was just on top of me! And then…! He would just suddenly bolt way!” Izuki looked near tears. “What was I supposed to think!? I thought he had seen it and I didn’t! So I just followed him! Every Time! And he was so fast and just kept faking me and would get back on my face and… and…!” The boy was fully crying now and the rest of the team looked either too shocked or too awkward to say anything.

Tetsuya felt bad for his senpai but he truly was mad with Akashi. “Deep Psychological Pressure. Don’t worry Izuki-senpai, it wasn’t your flaw. Akashi-san was using war tactics… It is truly amazing that you managed to hold on for this long. What Akashi-san did was truly dangerous; to make Izuki-san so mentally and physically tired that he could no longer hold himself on a broom!” The bluenet was unsure if he was reassuring them or scaring them further but he didn’t know what else he should say.

“So… what is he supposed to do? How can he fight that!?” Kagami seemed to have woken up mid-conversation.

He had to think a bit about that. The tactic was meant to keep Izuki in high alert and to make him doubt himself. “It’s a gamble mostly.” He explained resolutely. “There is no other option other than ignoring him as best as you can when he is pressuring you. And when he bolts… let him go. Trust that your Eagle Eye can see the Snicth before him. Trust yourself!”

There was tired and frustrated silence hanging around and Tetsuya feared that his companions were far too demoralized to play seriously after this. Except maybe Kagami-kun.

“Yosh! Now that’s done and talked I know what I’m going to do to breach Murasakibara’s defense! Lend me your power guys!” It looked like a quick nap was all Kagami-kun needed to be pumping with energy again.

x

  This time the beginning of the game wasn’t as fast nor as violent. Even Slytherin was a bit more subdued on their attacks and that was good because they needed to prepare what Taiga had in mind and it would take them a while to get it right.

Izuki-senpai flew by, looking less tired and more determined and Akashi was right there on his tail, glued like a clam. That snake!

“Kagami!”

It was the signal! Time to get serious!

The play they were attempting was difficult and required a lot of coordination in the whole team. They had been practicing the individual parts since the beginning of the second part but it wouldn’t be anything short of a miracle if they managed it perfectly at first try.

But Koganei’s signal meant that the Beaters were ready and in position so there was barely any time to think. Kuroko was already on the move and suddenly the ball Aomine was holding was flying at Captain and almost immediately, at him.

Taiga hardly felt the soft leather of the Quaffle in between his fingers, before shooting up as high as he could. Distantly he heard the Bludgers make contact with the bats as supposedly Koganei and Mitobe were trying to make them cross each other, right above the opposite Chasers, creating a momentary barrier­ to halt their competition. They must have succeeded because Hyuuga and Kuroko joined him almost instantly and together they flew high up nearly above the goals.

“Ready? This is really dangerous!” The captain looked just a bit hesitant before they began their descent. There was no time to think, Aomine, Kise and Himuro were already on top of them.

“Let’s do this!!!” He roared with excitement as they quickly left behind three confused Chasers and bravely dove full speed.

If he dared think too much about it he would probably throw up or something. He wasn’t the most talented when it came to skillful throws that fooled the Keeper or changed direction, or were so unpredictable that you couldn’t even try to catch them until the last second, like Tatsuya or Aomine. So he had to play with his only other weapon. Raw Power! If Murasakibara couldn’t be fooled, them he would force his ball through him and the hoop!    

Kuroko and Hyuuga were nothing more than another barrier to keep the Slytherins far away from him, but no one really wanted to go near him on his suicide dive, especially when he begun a corkscrew motion, trying to maximize the energy behind his throw.

The purple haired boy actually looked startled and hurriedly jumped aside when he passed, too shocked to try and defend. After that, Taiga only had half a second to throw the Quaffle and steady his broom before it hit the ground. He could feel the burn of the grass leafs on his knuckles and his ears were ringing from the brute force of the air. He took almost a full lap around the field to decelerate, still mostly deaf.

He could tell that Gryffindor was cheering but he had to ask Captain to make sure; he hadn’t seen the ball go in after all! The older student gave up trying to talk to him when it was clear his ears weren’t working and decided with a thumbs-up. It was clear and he was happy. He didn’t even pay attention when Hyuuga begun mumbling about monsters or something like that.

x

“Bloody hell! That was amazing! And Hooch is not even killing him!” Aomine was cheering loudly looking just as excited as any Gryffindor in the stadium.

“Shouldn’t you be worried Aomine-kun?” Tetsuya asked him with curiosity. He liked to see his friend so happy though.

“Are you kidding?! This is what the game needs!” The dark skinned boy had the biggest grin he had ever seen. “I can’t wait to beat that!” He watched him fly by, his delighted laughter echoing louder than the crowd and his hearth filled with excitement as well. He wanted to play more and strengthen his bonds with his friends.

“Come on, Kuroko! Don’t just stand there!” Hyuuga passed him and he quickly steered his broom to follow. The game was almost at a stand-still while everyone recovered from Kagami’s astonishing stunt. “I don’t know why Madam Hooch didn’t come to scold him but I’m not complaining now! Let’s take this chance and make a comeback!”

Aomine-kun seemed to have retrieved the ball from Himuro-san – that looked a bit out of it himself – and was flying back to them with confidence. Tetsuya launched forward, ready to steal that Quaffle but he was suddenly stopped by Kise.

“Kurokochi!!! I finally found you!”

The boy could only watch helplessly as Aomine passed them full speed clearly heading for Kiyoshi. Their Keeper was definitely not in shape to defend properly and the Slytherin Chaser had just as easily thrown off Hyuuga-senpai as he had him.

Thankfully, Kagami noticed his rival’s intentions and quickly intercepted him. They fought over the Quaffle for a few moments before someone lost the grip and it was free-falling. The redhead’s broom was just slightly faster but it was enough to get ahead and grab the ball before running away from the other.

It was probably due to everyone on the field being on shock still, that no one else followed the two aces up in the air. Tetsuya realized that his teammate intended on using the same trick again, taking complete advantage of the lack of action from the other team.

When he started his descend, the Slytherin followed closely clearly committed on keeping his word of trying to beat Kagami’s attack. Tetsuya’s hearth was about to jump from his throat as he watched his two best friends dive full speed to the ground. It was horrible and even scarier to watch from this angle but he couldn’t take his eyes off them.

The only one that wasn’t watching them fearfully was a certain purple haired Keeper. “Like hell I’ll let ya!!!” This time, Murasakibara looked determined to stop Kagami and his super Quaffle throw.

In the end it all happened so quickly Kuroko thought that it had all been a dream and soon he would wake up and go to the field to have his first Quidditch game.

Kagami left Aomine behind halfway through and focused solely on the glaring Keeper. He didn’t hesitate for a second. The ball left his grip full speed and Murasakibara braced for impact, his arms outstretched and his shoulders tense but firm.

The Quaffle literally forced its way through. 

Murasakibara’s right hand caught the round shinny ball just as it was about to pass the right ring; and for a second it looked like he had defeated the redhead and his monstrous shot. But the strength behind it forcefully pushed his hand, and arm, painfully back until its path was cleared. Then Madam Hooch signalled the end of the game and the ball passed the hoop.

“Slytherin wins! How unexpected!” The announcer’s words rang hollow on Tetsuya’s ears. “160 to 10 on Slytherin’s favor! What a shame ladies and gentleman! Even after the amazing performance of Gryffindor’s Chaser, Kagami Taiga, Madam Hooch won’t accept points after the end signal! How sad!” He sounded far from sad. And the crowd was incredibly loud, but he couldn’t muster the strength to understand if they were cheering or jeering.

He let his broom softly land on the grassy field next to his red haired teammate and together they walked in silence to where the captains were shaking hands again. This time their captain looked grave and barely spared a glance at the other.

Up ahead, Izuki was drowning on frustrated tears while being supported by Mitobe. “Damn it! Damn it! That bastard! He snatched it from right under my nose! I could feel those wings under my fingers already!”

In the end Akashi had bested them and proved himself superior. They had been crushed!

“Oi, Tetsu…” Aomine walked to them looking a little awkward and just a bit upset. “It sucks that she didn’t give you the points. You deserved them!”

He couldn’t help but feel affection for the blue haired ace when he remembered that one of the things he truly enjoyed on his friend was his fair play. “Yes… it sucked.” It hurt to lose like this but at least he was still in good terms with his friend. When the other offered him his fist he didn’t hesitate to meet him back.

Aomine paused for a second before he turned to address the other ace. “It was a good game, Bakagami! I’ll beat that shot of yours next time!” Then he also offered the other his fist.

Kagami looked truly surprised but a pleased grin quickly overtook his whole face. “You bet, Ahomine! But don’t count on it. Next time I’ll be even stronger!”

And as the two rivals fist bumped each other, Tetsuya couldn’t help but wonder if the three of them would one day be together as friends. He couldn’t wait for that day!

x

It was somewhat disheartening. The results of the game weren’t exactly shocking; Akashi was on the other team after all. But considering the effort Gryffindor had made it was just sad to see them lose like this. Even Shintarō wasn’t completely immune to the gloomy aura around himself.

“Are you alright-nanodayo?”

Takao, and the rest of the Quidditch team, looked utterly depressed. He should have realized his mistake when he decided to take a seat on their benchers instead of the Ravenclaw’s. It wasn’t like he wanted to sit with Takao or anything! Not really! It was just that Fujioka-senpai and Tanaka-san had both been sitting there as well and he couldn’t be bothered with anyone else!

“Ah… Shin-chan is worried about me? I’m happy.” The sound that left him could have been a laugh; if his tone wasn’t totally deprived of humour. “I really thought that we would win today.”

The brunet had arrived almost half way through the game, suspiciously covered in some sort of gray dust, his attitude as frivolous as always. His coach had berated him strictly and somewhat cruelly but his good mood had never wavered like this.

As the crushed lions made their way to meet with the rest of their teammates, Shintarō wondered if he should go with them or stay behind, unsure of how welcome he was at the moment.

“Shin-chan, aren’t you going to congratulate Akashi?”

The question made him pause. Was this Takao’s way of sending him away? It would be natural for him to want to lick his wounds with his friends.

“I don’t need to tell Akashi he did well. He already knows that.” He peered at the other’s face, hoping for a reaction he could decipher. All he got was a frown that deeply discouraged him. It wasn’t like he had the right to get mad at the other if he wished to be alone. Even if he had gone out of his way to cheer him. “Do… do you wish me to go congratulate Akashi - nanodayo?”

Takao’s face changed from confusion, to surprise to understanding in a matter of minutes and settled on something Shintarō couldn’t identify, but it wasn’t a bad expression. “No! No, definitely no! Come with us to the common room, Shin-chan! I’ll show you my Muggle posters and all our stuff! And… and…” In the end Takao did not shut up all the way to the Gryffindor Tower, even after picking up the players.

True to be told, considering who they had just played against, Gryffindor wasn’t in bad shape. Unfortunately, all they had to show were ten miserable points, four exhausted players, one Seeker near a breakdown and a newly pumped Kagami for some reason.

And Shintarō had managed good information about the two teams for future references.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N.: So what do you think? What was the result you were expecting?   
> I think that the GoM needs to show how good they are before they can be defeated. Kise didn’t have much of a part this time but… And I’m not too disappointed with how the game was written; I’m not the biggest Quidditch fan, but because of that I had to dug deep into the game rules and fouls and it turned out to be a very interesting experience. I’m just glad this isn’t a World Cup Game, because writing about fouls involving axes is weird. This way I managed to restrain myself to the ten basic ones!  
> This was the Slytherin lineup: Keeper – Murasakibara Atsushi; Chasers – Aomine Daiki, Kise Ryouta and Himuro Tatsuya; Beaters – Sakurai Ryou and Imayoshi Shoichi; Seeker – Akashi Seijūrō.  
> I probably won’t make many changes there but it’s something to consider in case one of the characters can’t play for some reason.  
> Bonus wandlore:  
> Mitobe Rinnosuke - Alder, eleven and half inches, unyielding and unicorn hair core. Whilst Alder makes for an unyielding wood, its ideal owner is not stubborn or obstinate, but often helpful, considerate and most likeable. Whereas most wand woods seek similarity in the characters of those they will best serve, alder is unusual in that it seems to desire a nature that is, if not precisely opposite to its own, then certainly of a markedly different type.  
> When an alder wand is happily placed, it becomes a magnificent, loyal helpmate. Of all wand types, alder is best suited to non-verbal spell work, whence where its reputation for being suitable only for the most advanced witches and wizards.  
> A wand that performs best in silent spells. It’s like it was made for our kind Mitobe-kun.


	9. Christmas Is a-Comin'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU. What if the KnB cast had been born in the Harry Potter world? This is how I imagine it. Cute GoM shota and lots of magic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N.: Well, all I can say is: I’m very sorry for the long wait. This chapter has actually been half finished since December. In January I took some time to study for my finals and ended up forgetting completely about this. After that, I just focused on my studies because I’m almost at the last stretch. I’m sorry to say that I haven’t felt inspired to write this fic because of all of it, but I’m trying my best because I feel that it has good potential and that you guys are actually enjoying it.   
> I have to ask you guys again, please, if there is anything you are looking forward to see, do tell me please because it will help my lack of inspiration a lot. I just need a good kick to get me going.  
> (Just for you guys in Archive of Our Own, this is my new chapter, kinda slow... it was meant to be released in December but... oh well, enjoy)

When Christmas is by our doorstep usually we tend to feel happy and joyful, with a new bounce to our feet… And that was exactly how Kazunari felt at the moment. True it wasn’t Christmas yet; and they were still buried beneath tons of horrible homework; and there were the echoes in the hallways of mocking from older Slytherins. As if their Quidditch victory had been their doing at all…

But he was still quite happy!

And true to what Shin-chan had told him, Akashi himself did not come to mock them or gloat on their crushing defeat. Winning was natural to the redhead so victory was no more normal than sleeping or eating. No need to celebrate something so mundane!

He wasn’t sure if that made him a bigger jerk or not.

As he walked to the common room on a cold, rainy Sunday, Kazunari’s feet had that happy bounce that was mentioned. Figuratively on the moment, because he was so tired and sore he could barely walk without having to drag himself. After their game, Izuki-senpai had decided to engage in a crazy training program by himself after the regular training with Coach Aida. Which was why he was feeling like this right now; because “by himself” did not mean alone. Izuki-senpai needed a sparring partner and Merlin knows why he had chosen him! It was fun playing Seeker against the other… for the first hour! After that it was simply torture to see when he would feel tired enough to fall from the broom. He was starting to suspect the older Gryffindor was seeking revenge for the happenings at the game. He wouldn’t though… Right?  

No matter! He was happy. Yes, bottom line was… it was nearly Christmas and he was feeling that warm fluffy feeling already. Despite being wet and cold and tired the upcoming holiday negated all of it! Oh joy!

“Hello Peeves!” He greeted the poltergeist when he rounded a corner and saw the little man trying to stuff dung over a chandelier, just about over Filtch’s reach. “You should leave some on sight so that he thinks that’s where the smell is coming and keeps coming back to find the rest!”

The poltergeist rolled around in the air as he laughed over that prospect. “Yes! Yes! Oh it will be great! Always a pleasure doing business oh Sneaky One!” He gave him a mock bow before floating away to splatter the smelly stuff over a few armours.

“Just keep your end of the bargain and we’ll keep doing business for many years!” He threw over his shoulder as he kept going down the hall, the sound of Peeves singing about snakes in boots slowly vanishing away.

Reaching the painting of the Fat Lady was a huge relief to say the least. He was strongly shivering already and his skin was slowly turning an unhealthy blue colour.

“Peppermint Liquor!”

Seasonal passwords were also funny, especially when the Fat Lady seemed to be drunk on them. “Oh, yes please! My cup is already empty! Eheheh! Merry Christmas and joy to the world!” And she let him inside as she lost herself on a fit of drunken giggles.

The inside of the tower was warm and welcoming as the flames from the fireplace lazily danced around filling the air with a pleasant pine smell. Kazunari felt tempted to just stay there until dinner, warming up by the fire when his foot caught paper and feathers and for the first time he looked around the room. It was a complete mess! It looked like someone had spilled the contents from their bag all-over the place. And right there by the couch, was Ahiru trying to pick everything up.

“Ahiru-chan! What happened here?”

The petit redhead quacked in surprise – it was habit she had, quacking instead of squeaking; that and her name quickly led to her gaining the nickname “Duck” – and immediately looked away in embarrassment.

Ahiru-chan was a bit like a little sister to him, and surely to the twins as well. Hell even Ryouta liked her. She was clumsy and awkward and not very bright but she was full-fledged member of the FAGWAC and always tried her best despite having nothing in common with the rest of them. 

“Ah… I… dropped it?” She looked terribly uncertain and the raven head narrowed his eyes suspiciously at that.

“You asking me? I wasn’t here so I wouldn’t know…” Sure Ahiru was clumsy and often dropped things. She tripped over her own legs and feet like it was nobodies’ business! But she couldn’t possibly drop all this! There were more books than she could possibly carry by herself scattered all over the room. Not to mention three or four bottles of ink. No one would have all of that on their bags. And it was Sunday! She didn’t have classes why would she carry her bag like that! “Ahiru-chan, what happened? Tell me the truth, please!”

Her scruffy sunset coloured hair fell sadly over shoulder in a long braid as she twitched nervously under his stare. She had long ago given up on picking up anything more. “… it’s nothing much… the other girls just don’t like me very much. I’m sure they’ll get tired of this soon.” She was pouting, her cute freckles accentuated by the light of the flames, as if talking badly about them was hurtful.

“Ahiru-chan is too good for her own sake!” He smiled jokingly at her and quickly wiped out his wand to summon her things to her, before he hit something. For how long had this been going on? “So… the girls… what have they been doing besides messing with your stuff?” Oh, he was so going to tell the other three about this!

She gratefully started pilling paper and ripped books clearly not sensing his true mood. “Oh, just girl stuff… Painting my face when I’m asleep… or launching the pustule curse at me. Holmes-san is always yelling at them and Aida-senpai as well so there isn’t much else I can do.” Yeah he was definitely going to tell them and he would have to find a way to keep Coach and Holmes-san away from the crossfire somehow! “They just got a bit mad that I’m hanging out with Slytherins and all… I suppose that after the game last month it is still an open wound or something.”

“Oh! So it’s because of Ryou-chan!?” Oh, that was just awful!

He had to help levitate her things back to the dorms – where the hell was her wand!? – and the thought that forcing their company on her might have caused her problems was making his stomach hurt. He didn’t even notice when they passed the archway.

“Oh! No, no! I don’t think they mind Kise!” She pointed at a bed on the far side of the room and true enough there was a HUGE Kise Ryouta poster smiling charmingly at them and changing pose every few minutes. That was good at least. “It’s just that I’ve made new friends lately!”

“New friends?” Wow, the girls’ dorm was just as messy, maybe more than the boy’s!

“Yes! We met each other on the ward the other day and they were very nice to me! At least I think they were nice… But I’ve been hanging with Pique and Lillie a lot lately, even though they’re second years, and I guess that was not okay.” She was absently picking ripped pages from the desk as she spoke. He wondered if it was alright to leave her be like this. She was too trusting of people!

“I’m glad you’re making friends at least. If it gets bad, please tell us, alright? You know you can talk to us, Ahiru-chan!”

She nodded without much cheer but she didn’t look defeated at least. It was a hard subject and unfortunately there wasn’t much he could do for her right now. It was with some sadness that he left the dorm without a solution for her.

“So… Do we have any new FAGWAC meetings?” She was already into a new subject and he had to respect her for that. Girls are strong after all!

“Um… Maybe next…”

“Takao-kun? Did you just came down from the girls’ stairs?”

They were stopped at the bottom by one of their senpai. He didn’t know much about this person really, except that he was really popular with the girls. Kazunari supposed it was a legit question, after all they weren’t meant to mix like that.

“Ah… well… you see…”

“Mytho-senpai!” It surprised him to see Ahiru take charge like that when she was usually quiet and pacific. “Takao-kun wasn’t doing anything bad! He just helped bring my stuff! He wouldn’t do something bad!” She was pleading him desperately and Kazunari had the feeling she was about to cry.

Mytho-senpai – it was his name after all – looked surprised with her outburst but he smiled kindly and even went as far as petting her head. “Don’t worry Ahiru, I’m not mad at your friend.”

“You’re not!!?”

Well that was surprising. But Mytho just laughed a pretty laugh and his awesome bright hair shook with his body. By his side, he could see Ahiru melt like all the other girls that had their eyes on the “charming” boy. “No, I was just surprised. Don’t worry about it. Ah, but you shouldn’t spread that around. Everyone will try to get the secret out of you. The stairs are charmed not to let boys through.”

“Oh.”

“I didn’t know that!”

“No problem. Well, I’ll see you too around. Takao-kun. Ahiru-chan.” And with a princely grace he waved them goodbye and left as suddenly as he appeared. Yeah, he wasn’t his type of senpai. All that graceful moving like he was dancing would quickly get in his nerves.

“Ah, Mytho-senpai!” Ahiru was sighing like a love sick girl by his side. Well, she was a love sick girl wasn’t she?

“So, Mytho is your type of guy? Seriously!? He looks like he would shatter if the wind blew too strongly!” He had to tease her about it. It was just his nature to tease.

“Shut up! Mytho-senpai has a weak health!” She pouted and childishly blew him a raspberry which made him laugh hard at her expression. She eventually grew silent and serious and he had to take her lead. She was going to tell him something important it seemed. “You know, this all started because of the Prince.” Ah, that was how he remembered that senpai! He was nicknamed The Prince! How fitting, bleh! “Apparently he just can’t help himself when he sees people struggling so he kind of helps me a bit. So the others were upset that he talked to me so often.”

He sighed profoundly. Girls were so strange sometimes. “So… how about not talking to him or something like that?” He just needed to think of a good plan over the holidays.

“Not you too!” Poor Ahiru-chan looked exasperated. “That’s what Holmes-san said. But it’s not Mytho’s fault!  He was so nice to me and helping carry my stuff and showing me around when I got lost! I can’t just take it on him!” Well… that was somewhat true, but… “Besides… I don’t understand what they’re thinking. Everyone knows that the Prince is dating Rue-senpai! It’s not like I’m going to steal him away or something!”

“Rue-senpai?”

“A second year Slytherin. She looks like a princess!”

“How fitting! Bleh!”

“What’s with you!? But like I said, they’re dating and all… and the rumor is that they’re engaged so really, not much anyone can do about it!”

“What who gets engaged so young!? That’s crazy!” Seriously crazy all around! They were barely old enough to date let alone marry!

Ahiru did not answer to that but she looked sadder than he ever seen her. He had the feeling he had stepped on some line he shouldn’t. It was true that he didn’t know a lot about her, and especially, he didn’t know how things worked with pure blooded families. He clearly had said something really insensitive to her. Unfortunately he never got to apologize properly to her because the biggest sneezing fit ever took him over nearly making him fall down from dizziness. He felt just awful suddenly and a powerful shiver had him realize how cold he was. With all the commotion he had totally forgotten to change out of his wet clothes.

In the end he had to go to the matron for a strong Peppermint Potion for his cold.

x

Tetsuya like any other child loved Christmas. It was just a magic of its own.

Colourful decorations and people singing on the streets. Lots of tasty treats and presents. And of course, the people themselves.

For a people watcher like him, Christmas was the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. People that were grumpy all year simply changed overnight; like the season of Christmas could just lighten up their spirits and give their feet a happy bounce. Naughty children that behaved badly all year suddenly remembered that Santa Claus had been watching them and over the month they transformed into perfectly adorable angels.

And of course Christmas also exposed the bad things. People that truly were bad did not feel the Christmas spirit. Like Hanamiya and his gang. Just the other day they had found them messing up the decorations Flitwick had painstakingly hung over the halls for days. His old age was showing and while his magical skills were as sharp as always he simply could not move around as much. Several seventh years had volunteered to help so that the job could be finished in time for Christmas but it had clearly made some people sad to see the passage of time acting up.

That encounter would have resulted in a bad fight if Professor Goose had not showed up in time to stop them. Some older children looked ready to curse them with something dangerous. On the good side of things the nasty rumors of Slytherin trying to ruin Christmas were quickly dispelled after Aomine-kun and the others got a hold of them.

For the good majority of the next day, Hanamiya and his tugs could be seen hanging near the entrance hall under a couple of Petrificus Totalus. They didn’t seem very popular within their own House because while the student body seemed afraid to approach them at first, the Slytherins, with all the grace of the world, spend the first half of lunch carefully decorating them like Christmas Trees. Some people remained suspicious of the snake house movements but after a couple of hours, the makeshift trees had gained several pink bows, colourful balls and some terribly annoying singing angels that were definitely not Slytherin’s doing. The joke ended before dinner when Professor Sinistra finally decided to release them.

Tetsuya had asked his friends about Himuro’s whereabouts and the only thing he got from Murasakibara was that “Muro-chin” was paying service somewhere else; which wasn’t something very reassuring to tell Kagami-kun.

But in two days they would be on their way home for the holidays and now they were simply trying to finish as much homework as they could before then. The amount of holiday homework given was absolutely maddening. As of the moment he was surrounded by the team, sitting near the fireplace in the common room, nearly done with his essay for Potions. It was simply too cold these days to leave the room for more than classes and meals. He could barely imagine how the dungeons were for the others and Kise had complained about the water temperature of the showers, several times already, to anyone who would listen.

But still on the topic of bad things… When you give presents to people you like sometimes you forget that they may feel obligated to reciprocate. This represented absolutely no problem for most people but now that he thought about it, he probably made Kagami feel inadequate. The redhead was by his side just now touching his homework; and not because of the usual lack of trying, but because Kagami had been incredibly busy lately. For a while he wondered what the other was doing but after the other offered him his Christmas present, and everyone else as well, Tetsuya realized what happened. And considering that his friend had come to him asking for a proper preservation spell, the gift was probably food. Ingredients from the kitchens and wrapping paper that was clearly leftover from others.

It truly made him feel a bit guilty. Not that he had wasted lot of money on presents but he had surely splurged when he had seen something he was sure his friends would like. Kagami’s present had been a bit pricy but he was so sure he would love it that he hadn’t thought twice about it. His parents happily loaned him the money necessary to make his friends’ Christmas a better Christmas and he had not felt a single concern at the time, because it was the season to give.

The present Kagami had given him was already carefully tucked away in his bag and it truly smelled amazing! He just couldn’t wait to see what it was! But for now he settled for doing his homework and painfully wait for the proper time to open his presents.

“Argh! I really don’t understand what’s happening here! What is this! What is this supposed to be!?” The red head was just really noisy sometimes. Kagami looked about ready to pull his own hair out and he had barely even started.

“We studied that just last week, Kagami-kun.”

The other gave him the most betrayed look he had ever seen. Maybe he should help him a bit… He had been busy making Christmas presents.

“Don’t even think about it, Kuroko! If that idiot doesn’t do it by himself he won’t be able to learn anything!” Riko immediately chided from across the room. “You should have paid more attention in class. Let this be a lesson to you!”

His friend looked extremely adorable while he pouted unhappily at her. It was hard not to reach across the couch and pinch his red cheek. But fortunately, Kagami-kun made it easier for him and got up picking up his materials.

“Where are you going, Kagami?” Koganei questioned from the floor where he was splattered besides Mitobe-senpai nearly using him as a blanket.

“Library.”

“You won’t find anyone there to copy from~~!” Izuki teased him.

“I wasn’t!” Was the red haired boy’s answer before he left the room clearly angry and frustrated.

“I wasn’t going to let him copy, senpai. I was just going to explain it to him…” Now he felt even worse.

“Ah, don’t worry Kuroko-kun! He’ll get frustrated with the library soon and then you can help him!” The Coach dismissed it with a carefree wave and snuggled closer to Kiyoshi-senpai trying to get more heat.

After that the room was again very quiet. Tetsuya quickly finished the conclusion to his essay and promptly decided to give up on the rest. His head was starting to hurt and he just couldn’t get himself to care anymore. He should just become mold and be done with it.

Nearly melting himself against the cushions of the couch he watched his senpais’ efforts to finish their work. Some quietly discussed the answers and others just wrote crazily like Izuki-senpai, his tongue sticking out in concentration. Furihata would check his textbook every other sentence as if he was afraid to mess up something midway. Aida-san just stopped her writing to dip her feather on the ink, clearly at ease with the material.

The heat from the fire and the quiet environment must have made him doze off because next time he looked at everyone Furihata was asleep on the fluffy carpet near the fire, Koganei and Mitobe-senpai were seating on the couch now, Coach was talking about some Christmas party with Kiyoshi and Hyuuga-senpai, and Izuki-san had five more essay pages than he truly needed.

The relaxing mood was easily expelled though when Takao loudly entered the tower.

“Yo! Merry Christmas!”

“Takao! Where have you been?! What about your homework? I won’t have anyone on the team with detention for not doing their holyday homework!”   

  The raven laughed at her accusations with good humor. “No worries, no worries! I’m almost done, I’ve done most of it with Shin-chan already. Here, Coach! Christmas present!” He produced a small star decoration with a red ribbon.

“Eh! For me?” The brunet picked it up with surprise and watched it carefully as she pondered. Takao was known to give some crazy pranks as presents sometimes.

“What about us? No presents for your senpais?” Koganei playfully whined and the rest of them gave nods of approval.

“This one only works on pretty girls!” The guy teasingly dismissed them making them chuckle in amusement and Coach blush profoundly. “Besides I already hid your presents in your bags. Those who went to the trouble of start packing already should have seen it!” He winked impishly and the room filled with groans and whines. Tetsuya merely smirked and enjoyed the scene. He had indeed discovered Takao’s present the day before but said nothing about hoping for some good future reactions.

“Uh… Thank you, Takao-kun. I think…”

“No problem! It’s meant to be a good luck charm! If you hang it here on the bed at the dorm it will bring you good luck for the next semesters!”

“… here? Why not the bed at my house? Shouldn’t I sleep with it?” The older student now regarded her junior suspiciously and he shifted uneasily under her eye.

“… no… It has to be this one!” He insisted firmly.

“This one… really now?”

He laughed nervously but didn’t back down. “Yes… it’s sort of a thank you gift for taking good care of Ahiru-chan! Holmes-san will get one too!” His smile may look completely innocent to the majority of the population but he could definitely see the deviant aura behind it.

Coach seemed to ponder about for a moment before carefully tucking away her star. “I just have to hang it right?” She looked like she had figured him out and her posture relaxed completely.

The youngster breathed in relief and his playfully aura returned. “Yup! Just hang it in there and good luck will surely fall in!” Since they obviously weren’t going to explain them what was going on, most guys had quickly lost interest on their conversation. “Well I’m going to go look for Holmes-san, now! Have you seen her around?”

Aida-san’s answer was lost on him because Kagami returned that moment. His face was pale and he looked a bit shaky.

“Kagami-kun! What happened? Did someone cast a curse on you?”

The other grunted in greeting and nearly threw himself next to him. A great deal of sheets and books feel on his lap.

“Found Aomine on the library.” Kagami watched the flames in fireplace with hollow eyes. It looked like his soul had escaped his body.

Oh, that wasn’t very good! A quick scan of the papers on his lap revealed Kagami’s homework. Completed. And very good at that! “Is that so…” A sudden terror filled his hearth. It wasn’t possible that the two idiots had been able to do all of this alone! What happened?

“He hadn’t done his homework either… he bet me that he could finish before me so…” He tried to chuckle, as if he had remembered something funny, but soon his semblance became dark again. “And then we got stuck. There was this one question none of us knew the answer… and… Akashi showed up…” Oh no! Akashi wouldn’t use his power on Kagami, would he? “He called us idiots and burned all the work we had done until then!”

There was general sigh of relief on the room and some of the older students started laughing at their kouhai’s miserable whining. But Tetsuya was still a bit nervous. Kagami-kun wouldn’t be this distressed over burned homework. “And then? What did he do?”

His friend gave the most haunted look he had ever seen and he could not help but hug him tightly. The redhead looked surprised but soon relaxed in the embrace and his next words sounded less shaky. “He tutored us! Dear God it was horrible!” Oh. Geez, if that was all… well it wouldn’t be a fun experience certainly, Akashi was severe when it came to teaching and would allow no errors on his watch. He still felt a bit sorry for Kagami, but it certainly would do him good when the exams came around. Tetsuya felt a bit silly for thinking Akashi had used his magic to control the mind of his friend.

“Come on, Kagami. It couldn’t have been that bad!” Koganei-senpai also tried to comfort the other, gently rubbing his back as his junior softly wept on Tetsuya’s shoulder.

“But it was so hard! And my body would listen to me! I had to go to the bathroom and I was sleepy, but I couldn’t fall asleep and I couldn’t ask to go! I wanted to run away! I was scared!” And now Kagami was full blown crying in his shoulder and Tetsuya was preparing a very angry discussion with Akashi about the way he was treating his friend. So much for feeling guilty for think bad of him! He Had Used His Powers! How could he!?

“Please don’t worry Kagami-kun, all is alright now. Akashi-san is in the dungeons now, I’m sure. And you probably learned a lot.” A lot, if Akashi used magic. “So, did you at least win against Aomine-kun?”

He could tell that the rest of the room had grown silent but he needed to focus on Kagami. The mention of his rival made the boy perk up a bit. A small ghost of a smile playing on his lips. “Yeah… I did for like… a paragraph.” Then it disappeared almost immediately. “I wonder if he’s alright…”

His friend’s words brought a wave of affection inside him. Kagami was just too cute and nice for his own good! He was just so nice that he even worried about the person that antagonized him. But for now, Tetsuya kept the notion that Kagami was cute to himself. It would be his occasional treat!

“Please don’t worry, I intend to check on him later today when I go see Akashi-san.” For a moment he thought that his senpais had slid slightly away from him but it must have been his imagination.

“Say Kagami, let’s check to see if you got anything from this experience! If you learned something at least there was some good out of it, right?” Hyuuga suddenly piped up. He swiped his junior’s homework from Tetsuya’s lap with shaky hands and quickly scanned the pages. “Let’s see… Oh, _Potions_! Let’s see… something boring and hard to remember! Eh… What about this one? _Please refer the uses and qualities of the Wolfsbane Potion as well as its recognizable characteristics_.”

Kagami had been reclining on his side against the back of the couch but when he heard Hyuuga’s words he straighten up and mechanically dictated the exact same answer that was on the paper. “ _The Wolfsbane Potion was invented by Damocles sometime after the mid-1970s. The main ingredient is wolfsbane – also referred to as aconite or monkshood. As such, this Potion is very dangerous when incorrectly concocted, since Aconite is a very poisonous substance. The way one must imbibe it is very unique among potions, in that a gobletful of wolfsbane potion must be taken for each day of a week preceding the full moon. The potion does not cure lycanthropy but eases the symptoms, allowing one to hold on to their mental faculties after transformation (which would otherwise not be possible). The completed potion exudes a faint blue smoke._

_Lycanthropy is an infection – also known as werewolfry – that forces a human being, upon the complete rising of the full moon, to become a fearsome and deadly near-wolf – also known as a **Werewolf**. Werewolves appear in the form of a wolf but, there are distinctions between them and regular wolves._ ” Then he relaxed and melted with cushions again.

Tetsuya didn’t need to look around to know that his senpai’s had equal looks of horror on their faces. “Well, I believe Kagami-kun needs to take a small nap. And I will pay Akashi-san a visit.” Sighing and ignoring the scared hush-hush behind his back, he made his way to the dungeons. Time to tell Akashi some unpleasant things.

x

The air in the library was clear. Cold and clear.

There was no one besides Shintarō in there and for that he was thankful. No hushed spells flying around and no disguised munching sounds behind shelves. It was exactly how a library should be. Silent. And lonely. But that he would never confess.

Currently he was reading a very outdated version of the Book of Spells as he waited for Takao – that had to deliver some papers regarding his club to Professor Goose – so that they could head for the carriages and go home for the holidays. It was incredible that a person as scatterbrained as Takao could actually be president of his own activity club.

And going home… It felt strange after all this time away but he actually couldn’t wait. Hogwarts was like a second home and he felt very comfortable and relaxed within its walls but the anxiety to see his family was now showing itself. He hadn’t talked to his baby sister in months, did she even remember him?! Little children tend to forget things easily after all.

In sum, he was just making himself anxious in the library as he waited for that stupid Takao that was going to make them late!

“Ah, Shintarō! There you are!”

Akashi’s velvet voice was a surprise he was not expecting. He had barely seen the other boy in the last month – not because he was avoiding him or anything, he had just been very busy – so he was at loss when the redhead took a seat in front of him.

“Taking your time before we have to leave this wonderful place, Shintarō?”

“Huh… Waiting for Takao-nanodayo.”

For a bit both boys just watched each other carefully. There didn’t seem to be any hostility in Akashi’s posture but Shintarō couldn’t bring himself to relax completely. It all went to naught because the redhead just sighed and slumped a bit in seat, a move so completely out of character that left him in baffled amazement.

“Tetsuya gave me a very… thorough earful just the other day.”  

He knew that. Takao had given him a small run of what had happened but he clearly had never seen Kuroko mad because he had seem to think it wasn’t very important.

“What about you Shintarō? Do you think I’m scary?” Akashi was giving him a very intense look almost keen on extracting the answer from him, but he didn’t use his power.

Shintarō considered lying… it would be the cleverest thing to do in such a dangerous situation. But… it would be disloyal. The other really seemed to need a truthful answer.

“Yes. Very much so.”

The air was moist and a water curtain was falling strongly outside, its powerful sound echoing through the hallways.

Akashi’s face dropped the cold poker face for just a second, allowing his sadness to show. But the mask was back on as quickly as it had left.

“Are we friends, Shintarō?”

“Yes, we are-nanodayo.”

The Slytherin chuckled but he sounded everything but amused. “Did you notice that you only use that end of sentence when you’re nervous, Shintarō? _*Sigh*_ How can we be friends when you are afraid of me?”

He was at a loss of what to say. At this point it was impossible to read Akashi’s face and Shintarō didn’t know what answers the other wanted. On the other hand he was correct. Friends were not supposed to fear each other; they were meant to be equals, but there was no way to be Akashi’s equal. He could say that they did trust him but… did they? After hearing about what he had done to Kagami and Aomine, he just wasn’t so certain anymore.

His decision must have showed on his face because Akashi’s semblance turned darker. “I see… Why are you so scared of me, Shintarō? Maybe…”

“A.KA.SHI! Hello buddy!” Never before was he gladder to see Takao and his idiotic ways.

Clearly not fearing death, the brave Gryffindor had draped himself over the redhead, his arms reaching around him in a makeshift hug that if pulled higher, would definitely cut Akashi’s air channel.

“Hello, Takao Kazunari.” The Slytherin was clearly unfazed by the other’s arrival but Takao didn’t seem to mind, going as far as to ignore the person he was currently sticking to.

“Shin-chan! Did you miss me? I missed you! Walking around Hogwarts without my lovely tsundere Ravenclaw is just so lonely!” He mockingly singed looking every bit at home perched right there on top of the red haired boy’s head.

“I’d appreciate, Takao Kazunari, if you were to leave us alone for a moment. My talk with Shintarō is not over yet.”

It was such a weird sight to see Akashi trying to pry his way out of the Gryffindor’s arms and the other smiling brightly not one bit worried.

“Talk?” Transitioning from playful to deadly serious – mostly just deadly – in barely a second, Takao glared at the other. “It looked like to me, that were just about to accuse Shin-chan… of thinking you’re scary! I mean… I can’t understand what you’re thinking to being with! How is that Shin-chan’s fault?!”

The air was heavy and the pressure from the two students from rival Houses trying to explode each other’s head by sheer strength of and glaring heat, made quite difficult the task of breathing. But surprisingly Akashi was the first to pull away. The shock of it made Takao finally release him and once free the other bowed down deeply to the Ravenclaw.

“I’m sorry Shintarō, it is not your fault.” Despite his humble apology and slumped posture, Akashi still retained the control of the room when he straightened out, simply because the other two were too disconcerted with the sudden change to know what to do. “Tetsuya just upset me a bit. He said a few truths I didn’t want to hear and I… just wanted to hear them refuted…”

He just couldn’t help feel that Akashi had a defeated and sad aura about him. Shintarō had not lied, despite not having been his first choice these people where the closest to thing to friends he had. And in spite of very much wanting to call this matter with Akashi - and perhaps their whole relationship - finished, he just couldn’t bring himself to that. It was just not his nature to do so.

“Oh! Shin-chan is so kind! How lucky Akashi; it looks like Shin-chan decided to forgive you! You better be thankful!” Takao’s words had a cheerful tone but the Ravenclaw could help feel that he wasn’t very happy.

“Shut up Bakao! You’re annoying! And rude…” That idiot! Always reading the words he wouldn’t say.

“No, he’s right.” Akashi chimed in causing the two to turn to him in surprise. “Thank you, Shintarō. You and the others have been forgiving me a lot from the beginning right? I am grateful.” His second bow was far more solemn than the last. Like the sly snake he was, Akashi had managed to keep his grace through the whole thing while still looking like a sad kicked puppy. But oh well… That’s Akashi for you.

_It’s what friends do._ “Huh…” Like hell he could say that!

“Tch… Shin-chan says: It’s what friends do. Lucky you…” And ignoring Shintarō’s horrified and Akashi’s surprised looks, Takao started coercing them up. “We are so going to miss the train if we don’t run. Like now!”

“Ah, we have to go – nanodayo!” Oh, he couldn’t miss the train! He was looking forward to go home and see his family.

“They won’t leave without us. But we are going to get scolded.” Despite looking calm and composed, Akashi still managed to make them speed up considerably as the three of them ran through the several halls.

In end they made it just in the nick of time and like predicted they were scolded by Madam Hootch but not for long for they needed to get going quickly everybody was at the train station already.

They were catching their breath as the carriage quickly led them to the village when Takao talked again. “Ah… geez… _*deep intake of air*_ Are you… going to join us _*another deep intake*_ on the train? Let’s play some fun games, Akashi-kun~~!”

The redhead, far more composed, smirked back at him. “Of course, Kazunari. I would love that.” Takao looked physically sick at the way Akashi was saying his name. “You know… I think you would have done great in Slytherin, Kazunari. You would have indeed.”

“I know. The Sorting Hat thought the same, but I told him it would be funnier if I was in the House opposite to yours. And I thought that I could get away with some things more easily if I was a Gryffindor.” With a carefree yawn he ignored the rest of the carriage and their surprised looks before thoughtlessly poking his head outside to watch their arrival. “Oh, no! The train conductor is giving us the evil eye!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N.: Here is Kise’s wandlore.  
> Kise Ryouta: Sycamore, twelve and three quarter inches, quite flexible and dragon heartstring core. Ideal owner is curious, vital and adventurous; a questing wand, eager for new experience and losing brilliance if engaged in mundane activities. It is a quirk of these handsome wands that they may combust if allowed to become “bored”. (Kise always felt like an electric kind of person to me. I thought it would be funny to see his wand explode in front of him after long years, just because he became old)


	10. White Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU. What if the KnB cast had been born in the Harry Potter world? This is how I imagine it. Cute GoM shota and lots of magic. First it will be friendship but slowly turn into BL/Yaoi action, so beware.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a very Kagami focused chapter but as long as I feel inspired to write this, I must. What I want is to show their children side. The way they relate to each other and the way they change over the years, so there will be some chapter solely focussed on their changing friendships.   
> Happy Birthday to my favourite tsundere! Thank you for being born!
> 
> (I’m sorry for the big wait. This chapter has been ready for a while but I simply forgot about it. The next one is nearly finished and I hope it will be up in a few days.)
> 
> This almost feels like Christmas in July!

It was cold outside his bed. It truly was.

Despite being the first day of Christmas break, Taiga just wasn’t in the mood to go and do something fun. And the reason was… he felt lonely. Really lonely. All his friends had gone home for the holidays and he was left behind feeling sorry for himself.

Not that Christmas would be fun back home with his old man but… No, he would feel lonely too. Alex would probably be working anyways.

That being said, with a laziness that was usually reserved for when he was sick, Taiga only left his bed around noon, when his stomach started to really complain and prepared himself to drag his body downstairs for lunch. The common room was deserted; giving it a much more open atmosphere and making it look bigger than it had ever been. Once or twice he caught the sound of a cough or snore, from the few students that had stayed behind to study for the H.O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s. But that was the full extent of life in the tower.

He left quickly and crossed the hallways mechanically, the stair changes already imprinted in his mind. Reaching the main hall was a shock. The House tables, carefully separated through the year, were tucked to a side, and the few students that were left in the castle – no more than fifteen or twenty – and the teachers, were all eating away on the same table regardless of House or year. It was strange to see. And though he wanted to feel angry at that, without the usual uniforms and caps, there was no distinction between students and Houses. Everyone was suddenly the same.

Lunch tasted funny in his mouth. The whole thing was strange to him. He was not used to mop around and all this lethargy was getting on his nerves. Back in America he barely had friends to begin with! This last months had really turned him into a spoiled brat. He could certainly handle a couple of weeks alone!

“I’m so pathetic…” He really should get over this quickly. No one was looking sad or lonely. Surely there were plenty of people he could talk to and maybe try and make some new friends. Yeah, that was a plan!

So, with a renewed determination, Taiga tucked himself deeper in his warm clothes and forced another serving of chicken pie in. He would get out of this slump and he would find something fun to do and he would not, definitely not, waste his holiday!

“Oi! Bakagami! It’s you!?”

The voice itself made his eye twitch, almost like a Charlie Horse, and he turned to watch the dark skinned blue haired boy approach him from the other end of the table.

“Ahomine.” He was definitely not that desperate for known people.

The Slytherin watched him with intent, almost as if he was studying him.

He didn’t like that. What was the bastard trying to pull? So he met his gaze fully and intently glared back as he ate a few more bites of his pie. That seemed to make the other happy; strangely enough.

“Good thing I ran into you, I’m bored as hell! Oi, come racing me!”

Oh, now that was a plan! “When? I need to grab my broom.”

“Now, Bakagami!” Aomine was grinning and he could almost swear that he was about to skip on his feet. “Meet me in the field!” And he just ran off.

Well, he wasn’t going to say no to that! Suddenly his pie tasted twice as delicious, but it definitely wasn’t Aomine’s doing; he just felt like playing Quidditch against a strong opponent.

xxx

He almost flew through the castle to and with his beloved Fire Hurricane. The prospect of a good match and a strong opponent making him lighter.

Ahomine was already on the field waiting for him, looking just as impatient to start, his regular broom in hand and a Quaffle on the other.

“Finally! Why so slow?” The other urged when he approached, completely ignoring the fact that he was running full speed towards him. “Come on, Bakagami! While we’re still young!”

“Shut up, Ahomine! You won’t be so eager when I kick your ass!”

He was already half on his broom, ready to take off, when a chocked gasp made him pause. And sure enough, Tatsuya was looking like he had swallowed a toad, sitting only a couple yards away, next to a very bored looking Murasakibara and half his size in candy and sweets surrounding them.

“Tatsuya?!” Oh, he did not expect the other to be here. Didn’t Tatsuya-ni spend his holiday time with his family?

The brunet made another chocked noise, started a motion to greet him but gave up halfway and tried to make himself look small next to the other without meeting his eyes. Taiga felt slightly sorry for him without really understanding why he should. The guy had betrayed him. First from the back and them openly. No matter how pathetic he looked, he should stay angry with him. But unfortunately for Taiga, his heart was way too soft.

“Ah, right… Uh… I forgot. Sorry ‘bout that!” Aomine looked upset when he motioned Taiga to get closer. His tone was serious but soft when he started explaining the current situation. “So Testu told us about the situation with your brother – don’t be mad at him – and last week, when those idiots nearly ruined Christmas, Akashi thought it would be a nice opportunity to snatch him away. So… he’s doing this… punishment thing – because of the Christmas episode, that’s what he thinks – but really now, he’s just babysitting Murasakibara. Pretty much just babysitting, or being his servant, whatever you think fits better.”

In truth, Tatsuya looked miserable, but that could just be because he was here or because Murasakibara was having him peel candy for him and hand-feeding him. Yeah, that did not look fun at all!

“So what are they doing HERE?” It was weird having the other watch him.

Aomine huffed looking annoyed and hopped in his own broom. “Akashi told me to watch them.” He pulled a face that clearly just meant he felt fed-up with it. “It’s sooooo boring! Those two are the colour of despair!”

He laughed despite himself. Ahomine wasn’t making sense. “How can you be a colour? Stupid Ahomine.” But it did sound awful.

“You totally can! Just look at them!” And he did. Aomine turned to his housemates as if to try and distinguish their colour which made him laugh harder. “You two stay right there until we are back, got it?”

Taiga jumped on his own broom and was just as ready to take off.

“But Mine-chiiiinnnnn! It’s so boring!” Murasakibara was complaining and looked like he was about to throw a tantrum like a baby.

“Shut up! You should have brought a broom and joined us. Remember that next time! Himuro! Make sure he doesn’t leave and keep him entertained!”

It might be true that they looked like a colour, Taiga thought. More like frustration than despair though. But that was out of his mind pretty quickly because soon, he and Aomine where on the air.

xxx

His game with Aomine didn’t have rules. Sometimes they would steal the Quaffle from each other, other times they would throw it around against imaginary Keepers or just fly around doing crazy loops and dangerous faints near the ground. It was intense and violent but very respectful. Taiga admired Aomine’s form and agility with a sort of awe and in turn the other did the same. It was a strong demonstration of power play but there was only balance.

By the time they touched the ground again, the sky was dark, his bottom was sore, his legs were jelly and his cheeks hurt from the permanent grinning.

“Let’s go again Bakagami! Tomorrow morning?” Aomine looked only slightly less tired than him and while that irked him, he just didn’t find it in him to care.

“Sure! Get ready to get your ass handed to you again!”

They were both chuckling with the prospect and carelessly picked their things to leave.

“MINE-CHIN!”

Murasakibara’s angry voice sobered them up quickly and they guiltily realized that the other two boys had been thoroughly forgotten. Their pile of snacks was gone, probably for a while now, and they were bundling together, a transmuted flame floating by their hands. Tatsuya’s lips were a bit blue and he was shaking slightly. Murasakibara just looked ready to murder them.

His body was feeling so hot from the workout he had been doing that it never occurred to him that it could be cold. Which was stupid, it was the middle of December after all!

“Mine-chin, I stayed with you because Aka-chin said so but this won’t happen again! Dinner is over, Mine-chin! **OVER!** I’m hungry and I’m telling Aka-chin about this!” It looked like dinner was his only concern. The cold didn’t seem to get to him despite the fact that Tatsuya was almost curled into a ball.

Aomine was looking apologetic but didn’t say anything. Taiga felt bad though. Was it really that late? “We’re sorry guys. You should have told us something! I’m sorry you guys lost dinner and had to sit on the cold.”

The three boys looked at him like he was a crazy saint or something and even Murasakibara looked less angry. That definitely reminded him of the company he had. “Some people are not Slytherin, you know!”

His words brought a belly full of laughter from everyone and they started to make their way to the castle, Tatsuya still trying to hide himself behind the other, but more from the cold than Taiga this time.

The purple haired boy sighed unhappily. “…’m so hungry…”

“You have plenty of snacks in the common room.” Aomine argued but his own growling stomach betrayed him.

Chuckling at the other’s misfortune, Taiga was also feeling quite hungry himself, now that the adrenaline was gone. “Let’s just get something from the kitchens.”

There was a moment of silence where only their footsteps could be heard through the large fields. Taiga was happily thinking of the goodness he could get for dinner when Murasakibara spun him around and regarded him as a hero. “Kaga-chin! You know how to get in the kitchens, Kaga-chin?!”

The strange nickname baffled him a bit but he quickly escaped the monstrous grip. “Yeah, yeah… It’s easy. Just let me go!”

“Kaga-chin has my respect!”

“It’s crazy easy to get your respect, isn’t it?” Aomine chuckled.

They were near the giant wooden doors when he spoke again. “Say, Kagami… did Tetsu say anything about a magazine? He might have left it behind when he went home…”

He searched deeply into his memory but could not recall anything of the sort. Why had the idiot Ahomine remembered that now? “Don’t remember… Maybe it’s in his bed back at the dorm. Didn’t check this morning.”

“Oh.” The bluenet looked disappointed. “If you see it, bring it tomorrow.”

“I can do that now… I’m not going all the way downstairs with this.” He pointed his broom. “In fact… Why don’t you come with me? If you want it go look for it!”

“You mean… inside the Gryffindor Tower?” The Slytherin watched him as if he expected him to suddenly laugh or mock him. “Can you do that?”

“Don’t see why not. Midorima is there all the time!”

“No! Kaga-chin, Mine-chin!” Murasakibara was wailing again. “Let’s eat first! I’m hungry! Nee, Muro-chin! Say something!”

Taiga turned around to watch the scene. It looked like Tatsuya had his own nickname too. How odd.

The brunet seemed to swallow his tongue when he realized everyone was waiting for his answer. Took him a bit but when they didn’t deter he finally resolved to speak. “Actually, Atsushi… I really wanted to get my cloak first…” And finished his point by shivering some more despite still being hugging a morphed non-burning flame.

Taiga felt kinda of sorry for his brother. He clearly didn’t look good after being outside all those hours. Murasakibara pouted, not looking happy at all for being contradicted.

“Okay then…” The air was bit thick but the redhead shrugged it. “After we’re done meet us near Hufflepuff. Come, Aomine!” And surprising everyone he halted and started dragging a startled blue haired Slytherin back to where they had come from.

If he wasn’t mistaken, today there were a few particular shortcuts that opened and would help avoid climbing all those pesky stairs. He rounded the corner, Aomine following behind looking every bit curious but silent. It was strange to have him so compliant.

They ducked behind an alcove on the first floor opening a passage that led to the fourth floor. After that he directed them through another hall and entered the painting of a sleeping hippopotamus that led to the third floor. Very close to that one, inside an empty classroom, was another painting, of a picnic scene in the woods, which quickly put then on the sixth floor. It was just very easy to take one set of stairs and they were by the Fat Lady in barely five minutes since they left the other two.

Aomine whistled; clearly impressed. “Whoa! Not bad! Look at that…” He took everything in with great interest and Taiga felt somewhat proud that he had managed to impress the usually arrogant guy.

The Fat Lady watched the other boy suspiciously but said nothing regarding the matter. He told her the password and she opened for them without a problem. Taiga was relieved for that as there was a chance she wouldn’t let a Slytherin in. As he stepped over the passage, the redhead noticed the other wasn’t following anymore.

Looking back he watched the other study the opening with a nervous look. It was natural for the other to feel that way right? After all he was entering… enemy territory(?)... That sounded wrong even in his head.

“What’s wrong, Ahomine? Scared~~~?” Using his best “cat-got-the-mouse” grin he baited him; feeling the other’s nervousness also felt wrong.

“As if!!!” The effect was immediate and quickly, the bluenet climbed after him, a barely disguised scared grin in his face.

Sighing in relief, Taiga observed Aomine enter his common room and waited with great curiosity. What would the other think of it? The redhead had a soft spot for his common room but, after all, it was his. He actually wondered what he would say.

His first thought, after giving the room a quick interested look, was definitely very Slytherin. “It’s all RED!!!” Aomine proclaimed, as if it was an insult. “My eyes hurt! And what’s with all the pillows?”

That… was actually a good question. The Gryffindor Tower could easily be described with words like “puffy” and “comfortable”. It was literally filled with all types of cushioned surfaces; which helped a lot during winter but gave the room a chaotic image. “They’re… comfortable….?”

“Well duh…”

Despite his aloof and conceited attitude the Slytherin still took everything in with barely disguised curiosity; and the scattered pillows and mismatched chairs actually seemed to amaze him.

The bluenet was clearly very entertained exploring the place so when he turned to inspect the fireplace, Taiga just sighed and headed ahead for the dorm without him. Let the guy play around as he dropped of his broom and changed clothes.

Only his bed still showed signs of life and that saddened him again slightly. The redhead was shrugging his heavy cloak – after that workout he was actually feeling a bit hot – and considering jumping in the shower real quick, when a scarred shriek sounded from outside.

Immediately he left everything behind, running fast, worried that Aomine had gotten himself in trouble or worse, had ran into some less understanding Gryffindors...

Taiga came to a dead stop on the way to the common room though. The scene before him was strange and if he wasn’t so confused about it he might have laughed at Aomine’s shocked and petrified expression.

“Why are you laying on the floor like that, Ahomine?” He watched, thoroughly amused, as the other’s face quickly changed to anger and he immediately jumped to his feet.

“So that’s where you where! I went looking for you and suddenly the stupid stairs disappeared!” He pretended to pat away the dust in his cloak before trying to glare him down. “Where in hell’s name were you!?”

The boy’s expression was so utterly offended and angry that he just couldn’t help but laugh like a maniac as he realized just where the other had come from. “You tried to enter the girls’ dorm, didn’t you~~~?!”

The bluenet first looked quite surprised as if he couldn’t fathom where the accusation had come from but slowly his expression became mortified. “As if I knew where it would be! It was a coincidence… There was just a tiny chance…”

“Oh… So you did hope to find it!” The other’s face was quite hilarious as he looked like a cat that had just been caught trying to eat the little gold-fish in the bowl. “Come on then, pervert! I’ll show you how to make good use of the trap!”

The Slytherin grumbled all the way to the top of the stairs – about traps and the need for them, in what sounded like another insult to Gryffindor – when the steps suddenly disappeared from underneath their feet. Aomine yelped again, totally unprepared, but Kagami only raised his arms and let a loud cheer as they messily rolled down the giant slide, only to end up in a pile on the middle of the floor, Taiga laughing like a little kid.

“Oh, that was awesome! Let’s go again!” He managed in between laughs.

After managing to convince a grumbling Aomine to go again – by asking him if he was scared – the two boys passed a few innocent minutes taking advantage of the maliciously intended toy in what was a child’s naivety. By the tenth time they found themselves entangled on each other, both their stomachs were growling loudly again.

“Oh danm! Murasakibara is going to kill us!” By now Aomine was also laughing merrily, and despite a slight shadow of dread having passed through his semblance, it did not destroy the giant smile in his face.

“Fudge! Let’s hurry! I’m gonna wash; you look for that book!” The redhead giggled and as quickly as they started, the two scrambled to hurry back.

xxx

Taiga was drying his face when he returned to the dorm, trusting his memory to blindly reach his bed safely. It was the rustling noise of destruction that made him lift his head and search for its source.

“Mighty Merlin! What are you doing, Ahomine!?”

Kuroko’s little corner of the room looked like a hurricane had just hit it. In the middle of the mess, still flinging sheets around, was a dark skinned Slytherin looking completely at ease with the state of his friend’s bed.

“Kuroko is going to kill you!”

“No, he’s not. He’s going to kill you. For letting me in!” Aomine calmly dismissed him, as he opened a few drawers. “Oh, here it is!” He cheered as he pulled a highly dubious magazine – as it contained some ladies with little clothing on the cover – from the nightstand.

Then, with no explanation, he just hid it under his sweater where he patted it down and made to leave.

“… were you even supposed to get that back?” Taiga was beginning to realize that he might have been conned into the deal.

The other seemed to ponder the question for a few seconds but ended up just grinning devilishly before skipping to the door. “Come on, Bakagami! Time to leave!” Yeah, he was tricked real’ good.

Huffing, the redhead was decided to take as long as possible to change his shirt and then pin it on the other. Murasakibara would surely take care of the pain in the ass.

“Come on!!! Hurry, those things are freaky! And all the red is killing me!” Aomine was pacing around impatiently by the door but made no effort to leave without him.

The strange comment made Taiga hurry a bit faster, quickly searching for the source of the other’s distress. “What? What is?” And honestly, you could barely see red in the room anyways! The whole thing had been decorated differently to the taste of its several occupants and now the colour red was hidden behind posters, scarves, books...

“The still ones… It’s just so freaky!” Aomine was clearly pouting. He was still pointing to Takao’s corner of the room when Taiga managed to understand the problem.

“Oh~~~~! Don’t tell me a few muggle posters are scaring the big Slytherin~~~!” It was quite hilarious to think about, and he blunet’s offended face was even better.

“I’m not scared! That’s just… not normal…” And with that, he climbed down towards the living area, leaving an amused Kagami behind.

It wasn’t that Aomine’s reaction was abnormal; after all, despite not being anti-muggle, most wizards lived in a need-to-know basis with muggles. Their relationship was based on a scared fascination with each other, and the same way a magical object would astonish a muggle, a stopped still photograph was bound to do the same to a wizard with little muggle contact. Having grown in a mostly-muggle environment, the non-use of magic was nothing new for him, and that was why Taiga allowed himself a little laugh over the revelation. Just a little. It wasn’t Aomine’s fault after all.

But it did not kept him from sending him a leering smile as he passed the Slytherin slouching in between a few dozen pillows.

xxx

The next few days were almost a repeat of the first.

After breakfast he would meet Aomine, and the other two, outside and they would play Quidditch until someone was hungry or too tired to keep going. As a safety measure, Murasakibara and Himuro were now in charge of sending some red sparks when they wanted them to stop or to tell them about meals. So no one was unhappy again.

After Taiga showed them where to enter the kitchens, and introduced them to a bunch of elves, meals were almost invariably eaten there. The purple haired boy looked like he was in heaven, each and every time they crossed the door. It was the rudeness of the whole that kept reminding him that he was spending his time with Slytherins – he felt the need to apologise to the friendly and very helpful elves. Used to coming to the kitchens to cook and get some time to himself, Taiga did not stand for the poor creatures being abused.

On some days, Murasakibara and Himuro actually joined the two of them on the air for a couple of hours. Bored of watching them every day, they borrowed some brooms from the stadium and teamed up to steal the Quaffle.

Taiga paid close attention to the two chasers, as he was sure Coach Aida would love some close up info for the future, but what he ended up learning was that Murasakibara was an incredible keeper and a Monster of a Chaser.

He had never been more thankful for the invention of the Tracking Spell on broomsticks because more often than not he found himself getting knocked out of his. The marvellous spell would keep the broom flying next to him long enough for Taiga to climb back up and avoid breaking a few bones. Murasakibara had the strength of a bull and thankfully he did not play Chaser on the games; otherwise most of the lighter players would certainly leave the game on the first minutes.

Overall, it was a lovely time passed, and Taiga had a lot of fun. Tatsuya started to relax a bit, and despite not talking beyond the necessary the air was lighter and the tension disappeared over time.

It was gruesome to admit but getting to know the other two Slytherin wasn’t so bad either. Murasakibara could be an absolute child and was terribly troublesome, but it was Tatsuya who had to deal with him so the redhead managed to focus on his best attributes. He liked to bake and eat. That was pretty much it. He managed to trade a few cooking tips and comments but their talks were scarce.

Strangely so, it was Aomine who he had the most fun. They were similar in a way. Excluding their Quidditch games, when walking back to the castle, after long hours of playing, they would talk.

About their favourite Quidditch teams, Quodpot, their favourite classes – they both liked Charms, Herbology and Flying – and their least favourite – Transfiguration (go figure), History (really) and Astronomy – and sometimes they would talk about Kuroko. Those times were few, and Kuroko was usually only brought out when there was something humorous about, like his crazy bed hair or his annoying habit of startling people when they were doing something delicate. There was a slight tension when Kuroko was mentioned that Taiga couldn’t understand. But being a topic that seemed sensitive, he did not go too deep into it.

Time passed quickly and soon, it was Christmas Morning.

Taiga woke up early, surrounded by the presents that had arrived over the holidays and felt content. He hoped his friends and the sempais enjoyed the modest cakes he had baked and silently thanked them for sending him so many presents.

His father had also sent him something, with Alex’s help, and so he opened that first. It was a remote controlled car, probably the latest in the market and that all the kids in America had by now. All the kids without magic. But it was still an effort. At least he had not sent him a doll by mistake – he had an aunt like that – and did not send him a pair of socks. Even if he could use that pair of socks. Really, no socks on Christmas! It was just a shame that he couldn’t use the car in Hogwarts. He could scare Aomine pretty badly with it.

That aside, he turned to the other gifts. Alex sent him a cool illustrated encyclopaedia on deadly magical animals that he set by his nightstand to read latter. The sempais had gotten him an array of stationery products, such as new beautiful quills, lots and lots of parchment and new bottles of ink. It was a bit embarrassing but he was still very grateful for it. Stationery was not cheap. Izuki-sempai also presented him a copy of his pun book. Furihata gave him a cookbook with magical recipes and the one from Takao was a muggle sculpture of a crouching tiger, both he liked a lot.

But it baffled him that Kuroko had spent so much money to buy his gift. From him he received a leather seat for his broom. The thing looked genuine and felt absolutely fantastic – he wished he had had it on those last few days, his bottom was quite sore by now. He stood a couple of minutes just admiring the thing and another few, deciding that the cake wouldn’t cut it and that he would get Kuroko something extra.

“Can’t wait to show this to Ahomine!” Excited with the prospect, the redhead nearly forgot that the sun was just barely coming up and that he was still wearing his pyjamas.

He turned around midway towards the great stairs to enter the tower again and get properly dressed. He was passing the great hall when it occurred to him that he gotten absolutely nothing for those three that had spent the holidays with him. He was still a bit mad with Tatsuya-nii but it was Christmas!

xxx

Breakfast was over by the time he finished baking in the kitchens.

He snacked something as he finished his presents so he just skipped the hall and headed straight for the fields because he knew Aomine would be waiting regardless of any previous agreement.

True enough, the blunet and the other two sitting in the stands were already there, Aomine pacing around distractedly.

“Taiga!” Unexpectedly it was his brother that saw him first and sounded the alarm.

Himuro’s exclamation had them all turn their attention to him and Taiga felt a bit self conscious.

“Where were you!? You didn’t come to breakfast! Did you fell asleep like some idiot!?” Aomine was fuming but the redhead noted some worry being his rants.

“Oh, like Mine-chin this morning?” Murasakibara joked as he had immediately perked up when he smelled what Taiga had brought them.

“Shut up...”

Ignoring the sulking blunet, the redhead started handing the cake through the stands. “Here... my Christmas present for you.”

Tatsuya looked a bit astonished and scared when the little red package was handed out to him, but he still muttered a quiet ‘thanks’. Murasakibara almost ripped the thing from his hands. He opened the box and nodded approvingly at the little frosted Christmas cake. To Aomine he just called his attention and threw the package at him. He was certain he could catch it.

“I... I didn’t get you anything...” Tatsuya had an ashamed look but for the first time in months he actually looked Taiga in the eye. “Sorry.”

It was an extremely awkward moment for the two of them. They hadn’t spoken directly the whole time despite just being the four of them; and the last time it had happened it was for his brother to admit how he had betrayed him.

Had he been talking about before, Taiga might have forgiven him right there. He might have, the sneaky Slytherin... So he put a hold to those thoughts for the moment.

“I really wasn’t expecting anything. Just... Merry Christmas!” True to good Gryffindor chivalry he had done it without a thought of retribution. It was just his way of thanking them for the company.

“Here, Kaga-chin.” Murasakibara called him over a mouthful of cake. Hadn’t they just finished breakfast? The purple haired wizard dug through his pile of candy until he pulled something out with a triumphant cry. “Present for you.”

The thing he threw him was a light cylinder in a colourful wrap and weird characters and symbols he had never seen before. It was a big deal, getting something from the candy pile. Even Tatsuya-nii-chan needed a special permit to eat one and he was always feeding Murasakibara those things.

Because the other was watching him expectantly and his stomach was reminding him that he hadn’t really had breakfast he decided to try it out. He opened the seal with care and watched the spongy cake that appeared. He gave a polite bite and carefully considered the flavour before swallowing. It wasn’t bad. There was something about the flavour that reminded him of lunch more than a snack. It was kinda... ‘stewy’.

“Uh... It’s nice.” He told the other and Murasakibara almost started glowing.

He nodded happily as if no one ever told him his snacks tasted good. “Maiu-bo is really good! Cream-stew is my favourite one!”

“Eh... Making the rest of us look bad...” Aomine huffed somewhere from being the Gryffindor and when he turned around the blunet was licking his knuckle like a cat and had a smear of white frosting on the corner of his mouth. “I’ll tell ya what... For my Christmas present I’ll let ya ride this baby if you manage to score against me!”

That was when he finally noticed Aomine’s broom. The gorgeous ebony wood was masterfully decorated in metallic silver flourishes and the tail was artistically bent in a graceful spiral. Overall it was the most beautiful broom he had ever seen.

“Is that the new Thunder Dragon?! And the platinum version too!”

The other had the grace to look embarrassed as he nervously passed his fingers through his short hair. “Yeah... My parents overdid it a bit.” But it passed him quickly as he replaced his stance with renewed arrogance. “Come on now! I’ll show you just how good she is!”

xxx

Turns out, Taiga managed to score the first three points quite easily, earning his right to take a turn. And there was a good reason for that.

The Thunder Dragon was a great light and fast broom, crafted with the newest sensitivity and comfort spells. It was just a tad too sensitive. A wrong movement with your head was all that took to immediately have it skyrocket in that direction. It had a few quirks here and there as well.

“Man! This seat is comfortable!” Aomine marvelled from where he was floating in Taigas broom. “I should get one of these!”

“It’s awesome! Best Christmas present in a while!” The redhead managed to shout over a particularly harsh turn after he got caught in a wind tunnel. While the Dragon was charmed to contradict the air currents and obey the rider exclusively, the wind itself was strong enough to bend him – which led the broom to follow through. “This thing though... not so great. You’ll never master this before the next game.”

“We’ll see about that!” The Slytherin boasted as he spun around his own broom. “I’ll even bet ya! That I’ll have it mastered before we decide to play again!”

“You mean tomorrow.”

“Yup! Tomorrow!”

That made him laugh. Aomine’s arrogance had no limits sometimes. He just laughed and parked besides his trustworthy broom. “Sure! It’s a bet. And if you fail... You’ll let me borrow it and then... I’ll show you how to master it in one day!”

“Deal! And when I win... Uh... I’ll gain the right to demand one thing from you. As long as we are in Hogwarts!”

He thought about it. There was no way the idiot would demand something that would bring his game down, that would be a loser’s attitude. And if there was something good about Ahomine, it was that he had good fair play. Apart from that... he really wasn’t scared about it.

“Sure. It’s a bet.” He raised his fist in a friendly gesture but Aomine still stopped like a deer in the headlights. He waited a bit, positive that the other wouldn’t let him down, went he thought of something. “Hey, wanna invite Kuroko to play with us when he returns? We could play teams!”

x

He really had a hard time understanding Kagami sometimes.

Playing with him was the best. There was no one that got him so fired up.

And he didn’t use those complicated words that everyone used to sound important – like Akashi and Midorima and sometimes Testu and Satsuki – and he never gave him that complacent look when he failed to understand things – well, he usually didn’t understand them either!

Tetsu would say they were similar. Fat chance!

But they weren’t truly friends, right...? The guy just showed up with Christmas presents for them out of nowhere like some sort of saint! He was pissed with his brother but he still got him a Christmas present! Like hell Daiki would ever go to that extent for someone he was pissed with!

And now here he was being buddy-buddy with him, like he understood Daiki’s inner turmoil over the whole betrayal situation after Testu walked out on them, on him! – that would be a party if he did, because sometimes Daiki wasn’t sure he himself understood – but he had stopped caring so much about it lately...

It was a hard blow but Bakagami was a cool dude! A mix between a wild beast and an angel. And that actually made him less pissed at Testu for joining the Reds and leaving them behind. He had thought that Testu would be the last person in the world to abandon him. But he had... Just like everyone else did...

Damn! He was such a sissy sometimes! Back to the Kagami situation for now!

Okay fine! It was good! Yeah, it was a good thing. If he could tolerate the redhead idiot – not Akashi, Bakagami – he could just hang out with Kuroko like before! And maybe he could hang out with Kagami too... Just bit. Yeah. So... it was good.

“Sure! I’ll invite Ryou or something too. The more the better!” And they sealed the deal. Kagami’s skin was warm against his fist, like he was some sort of walking furnace. He could almost see the steam coming out of him in the cold air.

The other’s smile was almost bright enough to see and he tried his best to appear neutral or uncaring that he had just – on some deep level that he wasn’t ready to acknowledge just yet, because Tetsu would definitely give him that condescending look – accepted Kagami as a friend.

Somewhere behind all of it... This was all Testu’s fault.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, a little bit of Aomine’s inner turmoil in the mix. Those two are so similar so they’ll be great friends one day. One day. As soon as Aomine manages to accept it and Kagami... well he never actually thought about it and probably never will. Labels are less important to him I think. It will just happen and he will accept it.
> 
> So yeah for today’s wandlore we have................ Aomine! I realised I never had him before.
> 
> So here we go: Aomine Daiki – Blackthorn, thirteen and a half inches, surprisingly swishy and phoenix feather core. Best suited to a warrior, the wands made from this wood appear to need to pass through danger or hardship with their owners to become truly bonded. It is a curious feature of the blackthorn bush, which sports wicked thorns, that it produces its sweetest berries after the hardest frosts.
> 
> I thought it would be nice to have a dark and light wand for Aomine. In the original, he passed through moments of darkness and despair before finally finding a light. Also, I plan to send these guys on some adventures so... danger or hardship. And Aomine is clearly the most suited for the part of a warrior. Akashi is stronger in terms of mind and maybe magic, but he would stay out of the fights and battle with intellect instead of strength.


	11. Home Sweet Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU. What if the KnB cast had been born in the Harry Potter world? This is how I imagine it. Cute GoM shota and lots of magic. First it will be friendship but slowly turn into BL/Yaoi action, so beware.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now they are back to class!   
> For the Cure for Boils I’m using the recipe written in Magical Drafts and Potions instead of the Pottermore mini-game version (differs mostly on the times and amount of ingredients) as each Harry Potter media has a different method to brew this.  
> I’m so sorry this took so long. The last chapter has been ready for ages, but I just forgot about it :( This chapter in particular took me a bit more than a few days because I got sick and just refused to move or think. It was awful!

Tetsuya was about to take the force of an exploded pseudo Cure for Boils to the face.

It wasn’t something easy to achieve. The Cure for Boils is a very easy potion, the very first they learned to brew. So naturally Professor Goose asked them to brew one from memory right after they returned from the holidays as a way to freshen up... to see what they had retained from the last semester before jumping into something new. Also, to make it fair, she decided to pair up the students randomly.

That was the first mistake.

Generally Potions works in groups of two or three. On the rare occasions where three people could take on a more challenging potion, Tetsuya would gladly sit by Kagami and Aomine to avoid problems. When the groups were of only two people he would take who was closer and generally not one of the idiots, so as not to look like he was picking sides.

But today, Professor Goose had made a fatal mistake. A combination that had never happened before and should soon prove to be very dangerous. By an unlucky strike of fate, Kagami-kun and Aomine-kun were paired up.

You should never pair up two idiots when it comes to brewing.

The thing about this particular potion is that it is not very dangerous. The only inconveniences that it may fashion would be even more boils when brewed incorrectly or having the cauldron melt with a ghastly bad odour if the same is not withdrawn from the fire before adding the porcupine quills.

So her second mistake must have been letting people pick their ingredients from the storeroom instead of giving them the correct ones; which led those two into adding sneezewort in their potion. Sneezewort! A proper cure for Boils has only snake fangs, horned slugs and porcupine quills for ingredients! Whatever else they had added was unknown because Testuya had been busy with his own potion and did not pay too much attention.

The only reason Kagami and Aomine’s potion looked ready to explode could only be because it was no longer a Cure for Boils. Whatever it was, it was dangerous!

Professor Goose didn’t seem to notice anything yet, which was bad for Tetsuya, because despite not working – at the moment – with the two panicking morons, his brewing stand was just to their right. Thankfully there was no one to their left but Holmes-san and her Ravenclaw partner, working behind those two, were starting to back away.

“Kuroko-kun, the colour is almost right. Should I start preparing the horned slugs?” Furihata-kun looked perfectly at ease with his work despite one or two nervous looks to his right and few other over his shoulder to where Akashi-kun and a Hufflepuff girl where brewing – Furihata-kun’s fear of the redhead Slytherin had increased magnificently since right before the holidays, just after his little stunt with Kagami-kun.

“We’re 36 minutes in so it should be about ready. If you do not mind Furihata-kun, four horned slugs please.” Testuya nodded approvingly at how their potion was turning. After leaving the crushed snake fangs to brew they were almost ready to finish up and leave early, hopefully before whatever Kagami-kun and Aomine-kun brewed detonated. “ _Protego Duo_.” He cast to his right as an afterthought. No need to take risks.

The brunet by his side sighed in relief and held his horned slugs over the cauldron watching for the correct colour change. To their right someone yelped and somebody started cussing. Not a good sign. But hopefully his shield would hold.

Risking a few looks over the classroom, Testuya watched in high amusement, as Midorima-kun fumed in rage while watching his potion and Murasakibara-kun napped by his side. Kise-kun and Drosselmeyer-san were both looking absolutely puzzled as their concoction was the opposite of the desired colour. Takao-kun seemed trapped in between keeping Momoi-san from adding ingredients to their mixture – Potions was certainly her worst subject – and trying to compete with Akashi-kun in speed. The last one barely seemed to pay him attention as he carefully but efficiently finished his work and his partner Andrino-san – that had given up on suggestions from the beginning –warily handed him the requested ingredients.

“Can I add them now?” Furihata asked him suddenly, his face the picture of nervousness.

The colour looked nice, maybe a bit over what they wanted, Tetsuya noted. “Yes. Quickly please, Furihata-kun.” The other skilfully added the ingredients and started looking for the porcupine quills. Tetsuya prepared to remove the cauldron from the flames. “You don’t have to ask me about all the steps, Furihata-kun. You have a lot of talent when Potions is the subject. Please have more confidence in yourself.”

“Ah… I guess.” The other boy chuckled without much joy over a theme that he probably heard a dozen times a day. “I’ll add the two quills now.”

That said, Tetsuya let the other stir as the stands to his right got his attention. Holmes-san was finished it seemed, her partner was already hiding under the table and the Professor was on her way to examine their potion before letting them go for the day. The hazardous potion made by Kagami and Aomine seemed to finally reach her attention just then and she quickly tried to herd the two idiots away from its newly gained black tentacles of death.

“It’s done! Huh… might be a bit darker than what we wanted…”

Tetsuya peeked over the cauldron and sure enough, Furihata’s momentary hesitation had cost them a perfect grade. Not that he would admonish him for that any further. It was a perfectly functional Cure for Boils and that was the most important.

He was about to appreciate the other’s help and work when the monster finally erupted and chaos and panic flooded the room along with screams of pain.

x

Kazunari was in between covering up for Kaoru and Hikaru and waiting for Shin-chan when he spotted Aomine and Kagami climbing the dungeon stairs looking as miserable as they could be.

After the incident on the first day of the semester, where the two of them managed to injure half of the class with their potion, they had been put on mandatory Potion tutoring every other afternoon. By some magical miracle they actually seemed to be hanging along fine and their numerous arguments felt almost friendly in nature; very different from the first semester.

The situation could have been fun, and Kazunari was certainly the type to laugh at these things, when no one died, but it had hurt like hell and even now his hand stung where it had been burned. Had he been caught on the face or worse his eyes he would be on his death bed by now. He absently rubbed the fading scar and watched them leave without seeing him.

The two idiots had been saved by Professor Goose and her shield charm, whereas Clerence-san – that had stubbornly refused to leave the table she was hiding under – had only been able to leave the hospital the day before; just after two long weeks unable to move in a bed.

He personally had gotten lucky and half of Kuroko’s shield charm – that allowed him and Furi-chan to escape completely unharmed and earned him fifty points, balancing Kagami’s lost sixty – had kept the toxic goo from catching him in any bad places that incapacitated him.

“Takao.” And that was his Shin-chan walking down the stairs.

“Shiiiiinnnnn-chan!!! Hello! Did you miss me? I missed you!” He made sure the twins could hear him from where they were.

The green haired boy did not look happy with the ruckus he was creating, though, and the pink zebra plush-toy bulged weirdly when he hugged it too tightly. “Don’t be so noisy, you idiot-nanodayo!”

“Wow, today’s thing is kind of cute! What do you call it?” He leaned forward to watch the bulged eyed zebra more closely but made no effort to move away. He was still waiting for his signal after all.

“Hintaro; but leaving that aside, are we going or not? We have plenty to do-nanodayo!”

He just had to laugh at the other’s naming sense. He pretended not to hear the last part because he was trying to buy some time. Shin-chan did not look pleased as he laughed on. “Hintaro! That’s rich! What’s with that?! Shin-chan is great at naming things!”

“I fail to see what is so funny about this. You should close your mouth Takao, you look like a cow.” The Ravenclaw was tapping his foot impatiently as he petted the furry pink head of his toy with his bandaged hand. He had not let Kazunari see it after the accident two weeks ago, but his hand had to be quite bad for him to keep it tapped like that.

Thankfully, before Shin-chan exploded as well, he noticed two red heads slipping through the corner before Hikaru quickly waved at him. That was all he needed.

“Buuuutttttt...! Your names are soooooo funny!” He pulled his favourite Ravenclaw away from where the other two disappeared and the boy seemed to relax a bit, completely oblivious to his intentions. “Like… The frog was Kerosuke and the panda-pig was Booki! Oh, and that usagi was Kuchako! Like really! But my favourite…” He kept enouncing them as Shin-chan grew redder and more uncomfortable by the minute. “… is probably Gaoumaru! Just listen to this samurai name: GAOUMARU! It’s so magnanimous! I would never think of naming a teddy bear like that! Never! Shin-chan is just that special!”

“Shut up-nanodayo!” The green haired boy was pouting and refused to look at him for the rest of the way to the library.

Knowing Shin-chan’s mood swings fully well by now it was bound to be a very quiet walk. Because he hated quiet, Kazunari still kept talking all the way. Menial things just to fill the silence, with no hope of Shin-chan actually answering him back. He started with his sighting of the two idiots which led to him speaking of their classes. It quickly became a series of complains about Professor Looney and an interested remark towards her new attention towards fashion, which seemed to include sparkly effects for some reason and soon he had lost track of what was leaving his mouth way before they arrived. The Ravenclaw made no mention to stop him until they reached the heavy door, though.

There he stopped as if waiting for something. Not realising it Kazunari just kept going with what he was doing without much thought. It was a curious look from his friend – a look he had actually never seen on his friend’s face before – that brought him back to reality only to discover that along the way he had begun to quietly sing. That realization brought it to an immediate stop.

“Y-you... Why didn’t you say something!? You should have warned me!!!” Gosh he was embarrassed.

Without waiting for the other, he quickly entered the room only to be greeted by the quiet hushes of the Sunday studying students of the library. He made his way to their usual table in the back, by the Astronomy section, and took a seat without greeting anyone. Deciding to wait for whatever Shin-chan was going to grab from the shelves – he already had forgotten what they had been planning to study – he buried his head on his book bag and tried to ignore the world.

He had never felt more embarrassed! He probably sucked badly and Shin-chan just had to listen to that! Damn! Thankfully they had been heading there, because otherwise Shin-chan might have had no other way to tell him to stop. He was very kind, Shin-chan. Even if he disagreed with that fact, it was true. It was one thing entering a library while talking, but it was another completely different to do so while singing.

Kazunari was just so distracted trying to ignore everything – he really wasn’t capable of dealing with anything right now – that Shin-chan’s close by voice made him jump considerably high. He had not noticed the other returning and sitting beside him.

“I see you decided to forgo books for this study session-nanodayo.” The greenhead was glaring at Kazunari’s empty bag but seemed to avoid looking at him directly.

Truly, Kazunari’s bag had been very much full just an hour before, albeit with a completely different arraign of things that were most definitely not study material. “... yeah... I kinda forgot...” Shin-chan gave the most exasperated look and Kazunari actually felt bad.

A quick look through the books the Ravenclaw had picked told him exactly what he was dealing with. Ah, Transfiguration... How depressing... It was a special type of hell that class. All because they had a crazy hag for a teacher that had yet to properly teach them.

When Shin-chan suddenly closed his heavy volume of advanced Transfiguration and sighed, the Gryffindor felt scared that he had upset his friend too much and was being sent away.

The spectacle boy was pouting as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. “You don’t have to keep me company if you don’t want to study, Takao.” But thankfully, his curled posture and his almighty pose quickly reassured him that the other did not truly want him to leave. “We are severely lacking in our Transfiguration education though... So every open minute to study by ourselves should be taken advantage of to the max of its capability! But I won’t do the work for idiots that do not do their best-nanodayo!”

Shin-chan’s “don’t leave” aura was strong despite his conceited speech. It was kind of cute how he was incapable of being truthful despite being blunt about so many things.

“No! No, no, no, no! I want to study with Shin-chan!” And to emphasize his point he quickly stole the Ravenclaw’s book from his hands before opening it while ignoring his surprised and annoyed face. It was as dull and uninteresting as one would expect which made him frown. “It’s just... What interest is in knowing that certain intonations or gestures do “this” or “that” when we can’t practice!? I mean... We have five years until we have to take a test Looney hasn’t written or classified... as well as a true practical evaluation. We haven’t used magic in that class other than trying to make Looney trip or change her hair colour to green-puke! Not a single Transfiguration spell! It’s a bit... discouraging.”

Wow, now that he had put it on words, their situation was bad. Really bad!

He half expected Shin-chan to huff and call him an idiot before forcing him to study so when the other just sighed and slumped in his seat, Kazunari was dumbfound. “I know... It’s awful and even I couldn’t help being lazy with it!”

Kazunari thought back to the other day when the green haired boy had written a report for the class, seven pages longer than required, knowing full well that Looney rarely collected homework and more often than not, forgot se had asked for any. “Lazy” wasn’t exactly the word...

“But it’s not easy to find somewhere to practice Transfiguration. What if something goes wrong? It could be dangerous-nanodayo!”

The brunet just watched Shin-chan, fascinated, as he dropped his head back and stared at the ceiling. What a unique day.

“What kind of place would be good for it?”

He felt sad when the greenhead straighten out, as if he had just remembered he was not made of flesh and was nothing but a doll. “Somewhere contained and safe. Close to any teachers that we might need to call for help if something goes wrong. Uh... There’s no place like that! We would have to build one-nanodayo!”

The look on Shin-chan’s face was of pure frustration but his words had sparkled one of Kazunari’s memories and the Ravenclaw had not finished talking before the Gryffindor had a solution. It would imply having many more study sessions with Shin-chan, and betray the location of a secret place that otherwise could be used for mischief but for his cute green haired spectacles wearing Shin-chan it would be worth it!

“Pack your stuff.” He told the boy that looked at him as if he were crazy. “I know a place like that!”

“Wha... Takao!!!”

xxx

The journey to the seventh floor was rushed in excitement from Kazunari’s part and swallowed in nervousness from Shin-chan’s. It was only when he reached the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy teaching ballet to trolls that he begun to explain.

“My uncle used to tell me many stories about his time during the war. He told me about this particular room where had to hid for a while, because he was Muggleborn, and how important it was to win the war!” He was talking really fast but he was very anxious to see if it worked. “Now... on his last year here at Hogwarts he came to see if the room, Room of Requirements as it is known, still worked because part of it was destroyed with Fiendfyre and he discovered it could still be accessed! Ah, he also told me to be careful of the other room because it is still burning and it’s dangerous!”

“Calm down for a second! I can’t understand a thing-nanodayo!” Midorima had to physically restrain him to force Kazunari to stop jumping around in excitement. “I don’t understand, what is this room you keep talking about?”

“Okay! Here, come with me!” With two quick breaths, and feeling a bit less electric, the raven took his friend’s hand, half of his mind noting the occurrence with renewed embarrassment, and pulled him. “Now, we are going to walk but don’t think too much into it! Just keep thinking about that room you imagined in the library!”

He could sense Shin-chan’s dubiousness through their linked hands but decided to focus on making them walk through the correct path and repeating “We need a place to practice Transfiguration safely” over and over his head.

When the door showed up he was glad it seemed to attract Shin-chan’s full attention because he didn’t felt like explaining why he thought holding his friends hand was a good idea. Mainly he had just wanted to keep him walking in the right direction. Thankfully there was no one to see them; because they were boys and some mean people – Slytherins – would definitely laugh at them if they caught them.

The room itself was wide and all the articles it contained were arranged with a note of precise neatness that clearly had come from Midorima’s mind.

The green haired boy minutely observed the room quietly and Kazunari let him do so, too amazed to comment.

In half of the numerous shelves that covered the walls of the space, there was a huge assortment of various objects meant to be Transfigured, as well as different sized cages, where animals were meant to wait.

“I guess the room can’t create actual living creatures for us to practice on…”

The other half of the shelves was loaded with books of several sizes and thickness. Kazunari could recognize a few, as well as a copy of his own _**Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration**_ _but the others_ were all too advanced to be seen outside of the Restricted Section. There was one though... that looked super interesting...

“I suggest you study the basics of Transfiguration before you attempt that-nanodayo.” Shin-chan had suddenly materialized beside him. “Particularly: Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration!”

The dark blue thick cover was slid back in place and the green haired boy quickly pulled him aside. Pouting but chuckling on the inside over Shin-chan’s worrywart attitude, Kazunari let himself be dragged over the middle of the room. This particular space was ample, cleared of any items and cushioned all around. It was obviously meant to be used for practice.

The outer corner of the room had an extensive first-aid kit – also Shin-chan’s idea, most likely – with everything needed to attend any injury: from a running nose to a severed limb; before they had to run to the infirmary. Shin-chan gave it all a nod of approval.

“It’s okay I guess…”

“Just okay?! It’s awesome! Come on Shin-chan, admit it!” His friend’s Tsundere attitude could be equal parts cute and annoying, but seeing the other trying and failing to hide his excitement was hilarious.

“Shut up, Bakao! Let’s get started-nanodayo!”

“Eh…?”

“Practicing. That is why we are here, no? Now get your wand ready-nanodayo!”

“Eeeeehhhhhh…”

And it was like this that Takao Kazunari lost 60% of his already very limited free time.

x

Taiga skipped over the stairs, two steps at a time, and nearly collided with the Fat Lady trying to reaching the Gryffindor Tower.

“You’re late!” Aida Riko’s voice reached him first, followed by an angry smack upside his head.

“Ouch! Sorry…” The redhead softly rubbed the tender spot as he joined the rest of the team on the couch. He had, of course, told her that his Potions tutoring was going to take longer that day – so that he could be free that weekend and play on the match. They just loved to hit him though.

“Did you manage to finish everything, Kagami-kun?” It was almost not surprising anymore to suddenly find the blunet beside him but it still startled him a bit. The boy in question was whispering in order to avoid the wrath of the coach, as she had started her meeting over the game plan for the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw game.

“Yeah…” He whispered back carefully. Being invisible sure was helpful in this kind of situation – the sly bastard! “Aomine too. He was very happy about that. It looks like he really wanted to go see our game. Ah… Mother Goose is the best!”

“Ba.Ka.Ga.Mi!!! Is there anything you’d like to share with the rest of us?” Damn, she caught him!

After a few powerful blows, the petit brunette was back on business and Taiga had a few painful extra lumps. As she was describing, they were in a small pinch right now. Their player info was reduced to a few names and positions; all because Looney had decided to give the whole team detention back on the day of the Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff game. The Eagles had beaten the Badgers, 460 to 170. Hufflepuff had gotten the snitch. It sounded like something from the World Cup! Taiga would have paid to see that game!

“… and so, the initial conclusion was that the Keeper and main Chaser are the only big threats! It was also a rumour that the Seeker sucked so we should forget about him.” Aida-sempai paused in her speech and pacing to give them all a very excited grin. “So! I was a bit nervous about facing an unknown team in just two days but…” Her grin grew further. “… I just found someone that actually has good info on Ravenclaw! Takao-kun!”

The raven haired boy actually looked startled with her sudden statement. He was reluctantly dragged over to the brightly shining Spartan coach.

“Eh… I think you have the wrong person…”

“Nonsense!” Riko was positively shining with an evil red aura now. “Why don’t you tell me about that thing we were talking before… Kasamatsu-san and how he has a short fuse…” She swung her arm around his neck and fiercely held him in place.

The sudden change in subject seemed to surprise the boy but he gained an understanding look and a cheeky smile. “Ah! That! Yes, yes… Kasamatsu-sempai is a very cool person and a very strict Captain! He is usually calm and collected when directing the team but he always comes down on them like a ton of bricks! He spares no one!” Takao talked with a cheeky expression as Riko-sempai looked more and more excited.

“And what about Quaffle numbers? What are his stats?” Kiyoshi curiously inquired.

“Hmm… I think Kasamatsu once let out how disappointed he was that his Keeper score was only 8:10! Which means that he misses 20% of the Quaffles!”

There was a collective murmur of awe in the room and the raven haired boy was looking more excited by the second.

“I know a lot of stuff from the players after all! They don’t pay me any attention usually!”

“Oh!”

“That’s great!”

“I’m getting excited about this!”

“Short fuse… but collected when directing… No point riling him up if he won’t make mistakes from it…” Hyuuga-sempai seemed to be working out strategies already and Taiga felt great respect for him and the respect of the sempais. He could barely hold himself still now that the prospect of a real battle was so near.

“No point, really. I would even say that the angriest he is, the more powerful he becomes!” Takao seemed to agree with Hyuuga on that point. “Oh, but feel free to try that on the supporting Chasers. Those are another two that see red easily! Far less composed though…”

“And then the main Chaser will have no support! We can tear them apart!” Koga-sempai looked just as excited as Taiga felt and even Mitobe-sempai was looking less calm than usual. The silent player had a shiny aura around himself but as per usual he did not say a word and merely tapped his friend’s shoulder. Koganei nodded as he immediately understood what he meant. “Mitobe wants to know more about the Beaters.”

“Hate each other! I think they were dating for a while but someone was caught cheating with someone’s best friend and just the other day I saw a few curses fly by! No idea how their field communication works but…” Takao was grinning as he remembered the occasion as particularly funny.

“The Seeker?” This time Izuki probed.

To that question the boy became contemplative. “I heard they had two Seekers… a first year and a seventh year. But I think they weren’t so sure about the new one.” The boy had a distraught expression as he rummaged his brains for answers. “Knowing Kasamatsu’s personality… he would rather use the veteran as we are a completely new team. He’d rather attack with experience and not with a surprise that might not work. But Gouda-sempai is way over due in his retirement as a Seeker. I’m talking about at least twice the size and weight of a normal Seeker.”

   “So I should be careful of rough play… I wouldn’t want to be thrown around in a _cheesy_ away!”

“Cheesy…?”

“Poor Gouda-sempai… such a lack of respect.”

“Shut up Izuki or I won’t let you play!”

Takao was the only one laughing at the terrible reference and it took him a moment to calm down enough to go on. “Finally… We have their main ace! Scored every single point on their first game!” Now the whole team fiercely focused on Takao. The Ravenclaw ace was their biggest threat! If they couldn’t find a way to stop his crazy scoring techniques there was no point in trying to catch the Snitch! “Eheh! He was great, wasn’t he? My cute Shin-chan!”

“I believe it won’t be very cute when Midorima-kun tries to drown us in scores.” Kuroko was very deadpan in his comments.

The whole team seemed to find his remark very funny but Taiga thought of something else. “What is Midorima like as a player? How good is he really?” Certainly there had to be a reason why he had managed so many points. Had he really done it all by himself with only the other two as support? If indeed it was what everyone had said then the guy must have been a genius of his own league.

“Hmm… Midorima-kun rarely played with us… but when he did, and he threw the Quaffle… he was perfect.” The blunet had an expression twice more serious than usual.

“Perfect?”

The boy nodded solemnly a Koganei-sempai’s question. “Yes. Ten out of ten. I’ve never seen him miss a shot.”

“That’s absolutely crazy!” Taiga was getting all pumped up again. Someone that good was sure give him a good run on the field.

“But Kuroko-kun… why would someone as good as Midorima-kun not play with you often?” Coach looked quite intrigued so maybe she was coming up with a plan.

“Well, when we played, Aomine-kun and Kise-kun could be quite rough. Midorima-kun would only shoot if someone passed the Quaffle. Otherwise, he wouldn’t get close.”

The triumphant grin that the petit brunette sprouted was enough to make them understand that she had a victory-certain plan. “So, what you mean is… Midorima-kun doesn’t like rough play, yes?” Hearing her delighted laughter was so unusual outside of the field that a least the team shivered in fear of gruesome practices. “That’s perfect for us! Kagami-kun! Hyuuga! Here is your objective: Play as rough as you can!”

“Yes, Ma’am!”

“Yeah, let’s do this!”

“And Kuroko will seat this one out! Instead… Takao! Can you do rough play?”

“Eh?! Really!? I get to play against Shin-chan!”

While Takao was a bubble of enthusiasm, Kuroko looked like the colour had vanished from his soul. The colour of utter disappointment. Carefully he nudged the boy’s side. “I’m sure you can play next time. It’s not like you can handle rough play.” The guy was more fragile than a piece of paper on the rain.

The blunet still had a sad air but as usual he seemed to recover quickly. “I can handle myself. Please look at these guns!”

“You don’t have any!!!”

x

Their laboured breaths echoed through the cold halls as their shoes slipped and squeaked on the hard stone. Testsuya could only hold on to Kagami’s cloak with all his strength as he used the force to help him keep up with the other three.

They had just left Defence Against the Dark Arts in a crazy rush. Professor Daemon was always the first out of the room when the bell rang but this time around they had managed to have him beat. The reason of course was not so bright. Half-way through the lesson, Takao had received a worrying charmed note from the Hitachiin twins. There had been an incident during the second years’ Transfiguration class.

“Izuki-sempai!”

As Kagami burst through first in the school’s infirmary, Tetsuya took a few minutes to catch his breath and wonder how Takao-kun, Furihata-kun and Kagami-kun were capable of running so much and look so little out of breath.

“Don’t yell on the infirmary, Bakagami!” Hyuuga’s scolding lacked the appropriate fire but he could not be blamed.

The entire team was surrounding one of the white beds in the room, their expressions full pain. Aida-sempai was crying by his bedside and Kiyoshi-san was softly petting her hair in comfort.

The first years fearfully approached the bed; uncertain of what it contained. All they knew was that one of Looney’s Transfiguration spells had gone astray.

What greeted Tetsuya on top of the sheets was something so strange that he had to stop to try and understand it. It was partially Izuki-sempai at least. He could still see the left side of his face and body. The rest... looked like rotten wood.

“Oh, sempai...”

Furihata-kun appeared to be on the verge of fainting and the rest of the younger boys had equally horrified expressions.

“When I die... lay me to rest me here in Hogwarts. This is where I want to _bury my roots_!” It was strangely comforting to hear the other tell another lame pun, even if it sounded raspy and harsh, as if he was having trouble breathing.

“I swear Izuki...” The Captain had his hands in his hair and looked ready to start pulling. “... if I hear one more pun about this...”

“That’s right, dude! You’re on the verge of death! At least save your breath!”

The realisation of the true gravity of the situation brought a wave of dread trough the blunet’s body. Unfortunately, Koganei-sempai had such an anguished look that it was impossible to confirm if he merely did not wish to listen to the terrible puns.

The pun fan looked like he wished to answer with yet another pun when a terribly pained expression crossed his face and with horror Testsuya noticed that the rot was spreading through his body.

“Come on, guys! Don’t scare the first years.” Kiyoshi was the only person in the room with a calm air even if his aura was of seriousness. “Izuki is not in any immediate danger. The teachers managed to slow down the transformation and it will take a few hours before it reaches his hearth. Right now they are preparing to transfer him to St. Mungo’s. He’ll be fine.”

The air lightened up considerably with his words and even Izuki was smiling a bit and probably thinking up a new pun, despite Looney’s best efforts to turn him in to a tree. Coach Aida was still crying though.

“Come on, Riko. It’s going to be alright.” Kiyoshi’s voice was soft as he hugged the weeping girl.

“That horrible woman!” She truly looked heartbroken.

“We know. But maybe they will fire her after this!” Captain Hyuuga’s words actually brought some hope. If there was anything good coming out of this, then it might as well be her dismissal!

“Who cares about that!?” The brunet cried out, this time in anger, and fell free from Kiyoshi-sempai’s arms to start pacing the room, leaving Testsuya, and naturally the rest of the room, in utter confusion over the outburst. “Izuki is going to spend weeks in St. Mungo’s! Who is going to play Seeker tomorrow?! We never trained a replacement Seeker!”

There was a small moment of stupefaction where they mulled her words over but it was immediately followed by a sense of disbelief.

“... that is what you been crying over...?” Poor Captain looked like he had been hit with a hippogriff.

“Izuki is going to be fine! He’s going to St. Mungo’s Hospital and is going to get out of there healthier than he was before!” She was pacing angrily all over the room and some people took a few careful steps back to avoid her murderous wandering hands. “I mean... How could I never notice this flaw!? Of course I think Izuki is the best Seeker ever! But he’s not immortal! He can’t play in every game! What are we going to do!?”

Well, now that Izuki-sempai felt less in danger, they were, in fact, in quite the trouble.

“... actually, Riko... I have something to confess.” Tetsuya had taken the chance to sit by his senpai’s bed side, near the rotting appendances, so he only needed to turn to his side to see how miserable the other looked. “… I kind of been training another Seeker…”

Their coach’s facial expression was hilariously shocked and for once she seemed to be at loss of what to say. “What!?”

It seemed as if whatever Izuki-san was going to say, was more painful than the cursed transformation he was being subjected. “I’m sorry… I was very selfish. I discovered a more talented Seeker than me but I still couldn’t tell you…”

“Oi, Izuki…”

“No! Let me say this Hyuuga…” It was probably the first time they had seen the boy so serious and gloomy. “You guys made me very happy last year. You were all so excited about this eyesight of mine, and I had never thought it was anything especial. I… we… we waited a whole year for me to be able to become our ace. A whole year! And then, just as we were getting started… I found this person! The same way I never noticed how especial I was… he never noticed either… I swear I was going to tell you next year! I just wanted to enjoy this year! Leading us to victory! With this _Eagle Eye_ you named for me!”

The whole team had remained silent for as long as the raven talked and by the time he was done there were several wet eyes in the room. Izuki himself was crying – in frustration probably – and Riko was crying again. Tetsuya could understand his pain. The feeling of being unable to play. Unable to be useful.

“Izuki no baka! I would never replace you outright! You have way more experience!”

“I know you wouldn’t… You’re very kind Riko.” Izuki-sempai’s smile was still sad. “But raw talent will soon surpass experience.”

“Idiot! Stop saying those things! I’m going to hit you!”

But she didn’t. Not while he was as sick as he was.

“I have a question. When did you have time to train a new Seeker? You spent almost all your time training with me and thinking up puns!”

Takao-kun raised a good point. Unless he wasn’t thinking properly and in that case, Takao-kun might not have been as clever as he appeared. Or maybe he was just a type of chaotic genius.

In any case, Izuki-sempai also seemed to agree that he wasn’t being very bright at the moment. “Takao-kun… hmm… do you remember those special goggles I let you try?”

“What!!!?”

“No way! Another one?!”

The first years were all a bit confused by the frantic attitude of their sempais. Takao had the expression of who felt somewhat intimidated with the not so pleasant spotlight.

“Yes…”

“Did you like them?”

“Yeah… They had great peripheral vision.”

“That’s why you don’t usually used goggles, right? Because it’s hard to see.”

“Eh… yeah, that’s right.”

It was obvious that Hyuuga or Aida-sempai wanted to intervene with their own questions but Izuki-sempai kept them restrained with a look. Tetsuya only wondered why it was that Takao never mentioned anything when Izuki-san’s out-of-the-ordinary vision was mentioned. If the two of them truly had a visual capability beyond normal, certainly Takao must have felt that there were similarities.

“Now, picture this… You have passed the enemy team’s goal posts. While facing the audience and away from the players; how many players can you see?”

“Is that a trick question? I can see all of them!” Poor Takao-kun looked genuinely confused. Despite not knowing how it worked, Tetsuya had once heard that Izuki-sempai could see every player until half of the field; which wasn’t particularly impressive – unless you were not facing any of them. His Eagle Eye could apparently see everything half a field of distance away in every direction; his great eye sight had given his team the dream of victory and now an even greater one had appeared before them.

“All of them?!”

“Even Kiyoshi? Can you see Kiyoshi at the other goals?” It was clear that the second years were getting quite excited and the reason Izuki-sempai feared would have him replaced was apparent.

“Yeah, he’s a big guy. Very noticeable…”

“Wow… The whole field!”

The second years were already celebrating a certain victory, Furihata-kun was gently trying to explain a dumfound Takao that seeing the world perfectly 360º around one’s head was not conventional and Tetsuya couldn’t help but feel sorry for his elder. Sure none of them had been permanently replaced, but the feeling of helplessness remained; as well as a small sense of betrayal.

“I shall call him: _Hawk Eye_ ; and he will be my minion!” Was the eagle’s sudden shout.

“Oh, great! Now he’s delusional too!”

“Oh, stop it Izuki! I’m not replacing you! Just because we have two players with the same talent does not mean you will play the same!” The girl’s smile was motherly and patient – now that the game was going to go according to plan still – and she carefully pulled what was left of his hair from his precious eye so that she could look him straight. “It just means we can have double the strategies! And double the training!”

“Ahah… Don’t worry, I’m just being pessimistic because of this _festering_ situation! I know that no one can _chop_ me down! I’m a _force of nature_!”

“And he’s fine…”

Sadly, Professor Goose chose that moment to enter the infirmary. When she noticed them, instead of nagging for having too many people hovering over the patient – like a proper nurse would have, and not the part-time replacement the Ministry had dismissed for them – she presented them all a sad smile.

“It was very nice of you to have kept your friend company through these horrible moments, but it is time for the mediwizards to take him. Say your goodbyes quickly.”

The air immediately became awkward as people tried to decide what to say since this time around, a simple “good luck” or “get well” might not cut it. Thankfully, Kagami-kun seemed unaffected by these airs.

“Get well soon sempai, so that we can play together again!”

It caused a big wave of agreements on the statement, followed by huge declarations of friendship and soon Tetsuya watched the mediwizards and Izuki-sempai disappear through the Floo.

Things quieted down after that.

The Mother Goose gently persuaded them to leave the infirmary and head to the tower and offered them all dismisses from their later classes. They were silently walking up when Takao suddenly spoke.

“Oi! If I play Seeker tomorrow, who is going to do my job?”

Oh, that was right. They were lacking a Chaser now. That meant that Tetsuya could play again!

“Furihata will. Can you handle rough play?”

And all his hope went down the drain. Furihata on the other hand was looking paler than a ghost and shaking more than a jelly on the San Andreas Fault.

“Y-y-ye-yes!”

“Are you sure…? You don’t have too, if you don’t feel confident. I can ask one of the bigger boys… if they haven’t all given up by now.” Coach Aida understandably did not look sure about his answer.

“Y-y-yes! I’ll do it! I’ll scratch it off the list!” Incredibly the brunet managed to look scared and fiercely determined at the same time.

“List…? Do I want know about this?”

Back at the end of the line, forgotten by the others, the blunet decided to drown their hysterically funny stories about Furihata’s scary-stuff list and sulked. If it was for the good of the team then he would not protest the choice but it still stung a bit.

“Hey! Why you sulking back here alone?” It seemed that Kagami-kun had not forgotten about him after all. The redhead casually swung his arm around his neck and pulled him close as they climbed staircase after staircase. “We still have six or seven years to play Quidditch together. Me, you, Izuki-sempai… Aomine and even Tatsuya… everyone, really… If you think about it like that, you’ll see that sitting out a game, means nothing in the end…”

He couldn’t help but be impressed with his friend right now. Truly, his words made his pouting seem far more childish and Tetsuya couldn’t help but marvel once more at how Kagami’s hearth worked. His desire to enjoy Quidditch did not stop at their team and friends; it extended itself to everyone he could play with or against.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” The other boy was clearly suspicious of him, if his tone and half glare were anything to go by.

“I’m just very impressed, Kagami-kun. I never hoped to reach the day I would hear you speak such intelligent words. It is somewhat frightening.”

“Bastard, I knew it! Stop insulting me!”

“Nonsense, Kagami-kun. If anything I’m complementing you.”

Of course the other would not believe him on that and Tetsuya was forced to endure some very impolite wordings until they reached the Gryffindor Tower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Can you tell I haven’t really thought about the other teams very much... like... at all!)   
> Hi guys! So, in this chapter a few things happened and in place of the usual wandlore I’ll tell you all about Midorima’s animal names :9 This involved a bit of study on my part.  
> So first I used the already known name, Kerosuke and I divided it in two parts => “Kero” and “Suke”. That gave me an idea right away! “Kero” is the onomatopoeia of a frog/the sound a frog does in Japanese. Japanese animal onomatopoeia is known as Giseigo.   
> Other known Giseigo are:  
> • nyaa nyaa – cat meowing  
> • goro goro – cat purring  
> • wan wan – dog barking  
> • moo moo – cow mooing  
> • mee mee – sheep bleating  
> “Suke” is a common suffix at the end of a boy’s name. It means “help”.  
> So to construct new animal names all I needed were their Giseigo and a suffix depending on the gender. That being said:  
> \- hihiin – horse neighing + “taro” – first son or simply "boy" = Hintaro (it’s a boy obviously)  
> \- booboo – the sound of a pig + “ki” – tree = Booki (it’s a girl)  
> \- kucha-kucha – the sound of chewing (as a rabbit has no sound) + “ko” – child = Kuchako (girl)  
> \- gaou – the sound of a roar (used for tigers, bears and anything else that roars) + “maru” – valuable = Gaoumaru (boy)


End file.
